Most people consider getting publicity the most important part of public relations. It’s also very mysterious to many people. Here are my top five publicity myths, to help make publicity better understood.

1. Who you (or your publicist) knows at the media is more important than the story idea. Sure, it’s easier to get a reporter or writer that knows you to listen to your pitch. But unless the pitch is good, it doesn’t matter if your contacts are your best friends — they won’t risk their jobs on your bad idea.

2. The amount of time spent on an interview determines how much publicity you will receive. I know people who have been interviewed for an hour and a half, and have only received a line in a publication (or none at all). I also know people who were interviewed for 20 minutes who received a half-page profile. It all depends on the story the writer is putting together, who else they are interviewing, and editorial decisions.

3. You have control over the information presented. One of the differences between advertising and publicity is that you pay for advertising and publicity is "free." Another difference is that by paying for advertising, you control the message. The publicity you receive may contain an inaccurate quote, or may present your information in a different way than you had intended. These are possibilities, and should be taken in stride.

4. A publicist can guarantee media coverage. Unless it is paid for, there is no guarantee of coverage. Even something that has a target broadcast or publication date can be moved if a hot story overshadows yours.

5. The media will jump on a great idea and work on the story immediately. What may seem like the greatest news in the world to you (and might actually be) is just one of many "hot" pitches that the media receive. Unless it is a major event (usually a grim one), the media takes their time determining their interest in a story. That’s why constant follow-up is so necessary for all pitches.

Copyright 2006 Margie Fisher All Rights Reserved

Margie Fisher, President of Zable Fisher Public Relations, is the author of the Do-It-Yourself Public Relations Kit. For more information on the Kit, the Pay for Results Publicity Program, and to sign up for the complimentary PRactical P.R. newsletter, visit http://www.zfpr.com

The message is determined by analyzing the brand being marketed, and doing so with clear vision and self-knowledge. Too many marketing executives rely on their own concept of the brand’s identity, and never bother to discover what attributes the public has assigned to a product. Just because you’ve decided that you want to project a certain image doesn’t mean that’s the image you’re projecting. Extremely high-profile marketing campaigns have failed because not enough market research and communication with the consuming public were done.

For example:

When AT&T Wireless decided to consolidate its wireless phone, pager, and Internet technology into something called mlife, it gave the public examples of what the company meant. Unfortunately, the public still doesn’t understand, and has no idea what the m stands for (it is messaging).

United Airlines has long invited the public to "fly the friendly skies of United." The public has noticed that the experience on the plane is not terribly friendly, and is now distrustful of all airlines’ claims.

The criteria for effective public relations messages should be: (1) is it true? (2) Is it unusual? (3) Is it interesting?

On the other hand, if a company already exists in the marketplace, a new message will have to be identified. For retail companies, the addition of a new product category or a price reduction are always effective messages.

Sales promotions, particularly very public or extremely unusual ones, make good messages. Anything out of the ordinary being done by the company in the name of public service or community aid is a legitimate message.

In order for the message to be even rudimentarily effective, it absolutely must be true. Remember, the message is being disseminated by the legitimate news media; a false message will be discovered and exposed, and win immediately brand the company negatively. It will do more damage than having no message at all, and such situations must be avoided at all costs.

Unique messages are going to be more noticeable and more attractive to the gatekeepers who determine which stories are told and which are not. So an unusual message–something a company is doing that no one else has considered or been creative enough to conceive-will be considerably more successful than one that seems tired or old simply because it has been seen before.

It goes without saying that the message must be interesting. If it is unique, unusual, and true, but without any interest to the general public, the message being delivered will most likely never find the light of day. If it does, it will undoubtedly be ignored, or worse, ridiculed. Many companies make the mistake of assuming that if a message seems unusual and interesting to them, it will be those things for the general consuming public. People in business tend to find their business fascinating; it is the thing they spend most of their time thinking about, so they are more knowledgeable about and concerned with their business than any casual observer or consumer would be. That is only natural and proper. But it is far too easy to make the miscalculation that a message that might be fascinating to an industry insider-for example, "Ours is the only paper bag made with 100 percent maple fibers"-will also be of interest to a casual user of the product. In almost every case, that assumption will be proven untrue.

So, commununication with the consuming public is an essential component to any successful Branding venture. Discovering from the public what its true feelings are about the brand identity being contemplated, as well as any changes being discussed concerning an existing brand identity, can help a wise marketer avoid miscalculations that can prove disastrously costly and possibly fatal to the brand, the product, or the company.

This is not to imply that the public must be allowed to dictate all Branding decisions, however. What’s more important is for anyone involved in Branding to have a clear-eyed view of their brand identity. Wal-Mart remains a wildly successful brand by not trying to be Tiffany’s. McDonald’s, although it has slipped precipitously as a trusted brand in recent years, still has the good sense not to hire Wolfgang Puck to rethink its hamburger recipe.

When a Branding professional loses sight of the original mission-that is, the brand identity-and tries to be all things to all people, the results are almost always calamitous. The archetypal example of New Coke works as a warning about so many different Branding errors that it seems clichéd to mention it, but consider: The fundamental miscalculation being made was the level of loyalty the average Coca-Cola drinker had for what was, and remains, unquestionably the most well-known, best-loved brand identity on this planet. To think it was a good idea to remove this beloved product-in favor of a formula that emulated the competition and was bound to alienate Coca-Cola loyalists who had stuck with the brand, in some cases, for decades-is astonishing.

A FEW BASIC PROMISES

Public relations can operate effectively only when a clear, realistic brand identity has been conceived. Certainly, PR, professionals can be part of the team that establishes that identity, but it must be, above all else, a true identity. That means it must have specific attributes, specific philosophical tenets, and, most important, a few basic promises made to the consumer that will never, ever be broken.

These promises, which should be written down in the simplest language possible and distributed on a regular basis to every employee of the company, are a covenant made with the public. They define the brand identity; they provide reasons to patronize the brand; and they offer, at the most basic level, differentiation from all competing brands. They are never to be taken lightly by any employee, and under no circumstances are they ever to be broken for any reason.

If your business is a store that sells items that cost $1 apiece, you must never charge $1.05 for anything. If your restaurant prides itself on cleanliness, the rest rooms have to be absolutely spotless anytime anyone walks in. If your promise is that every customer will be served within 30 seconds of entering, you’d better have a stopwatch on every employee’s wrist and be sure it’s operating accurately.

The promises your business makes are the central core of that business. If you’ve promised to provide the longest hot dogs in town, and you provide them, no reasonable person is going to complain that you don’t have the best crêpes suzettes as well-unless you’ve promised that too.

It’s extremely important that the promises you make flow from your brand identity. Understand what you are to the public and what is expected of you, and you can make bold but realistic promises. Try to provide every solution to every problem, and you win end up providing nothing that is the least bit effective.

Consider, for example, the Disney brand. Here is a company whose name and logo are recognized in every country on the planet, whose message is received and understood everywhere from Beverly Hills to Beirut. It was once estimated that Mickey Mouse was the most recognized figure anywhere on Earth, more than the president of the United States, more than Tom Cruise, actually more than Santa Claus (who is famous in only about one-third of the world’s countries).

On the surface, Disney might appear to offer all things to all people. Besides its movies and television programs under the Walt Disney name, it also produces entertainment under the Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures banners. Disney has a network television show on a network it owns (ABC), and also provides programming on cable TV via the Disney Channel and ABC Family. The company owns theme parks in California, Florida, Japan, and France. It also owns ESPN, publishing companies, video distribution companies, real estate, and retail stores. Disney logos appear on merchandise ranging from souvenir Mickey Mouse ears to fashions created by respected designers, electronics, calendars, furniture, musical instruments, sound recordings, and timepieces. Disney produces Broadway shows. It even owns a town in Florida.

But no matter how widely it casts its net, Disney always promises its customers the same things: high quality, fanatical customer service, and a dedication to the family. It might produce some R-rated movies under its Touchstone, Miramax, or Hollywood Pictures umbrella, but never with the Disney name. It will provide scary thrill rides in its theme parks, but you’d better believe the streets in that park will be clean and the "cast members" who work there will find a way to solve virtually any problem a guest might have during the stay. Guests at Walt Disney World are never told, "We can’t do that"; they are always given at least an alternative solution. Maybe the ABC network will broadcast NYPD Blue, which offers controversial language and partial nudity, but the Disney Channel won’t ever consider such a thing. If Disney produces a show on Broadway, you can rest assured that children will be admitted and the content will not offend their parents.

Disney has become the tremendous conglomerate it is today by making promises to its consumers and keeping them consistently since the company’s inception. Anything that bears the Disney name has a special trust, a covenant with the consumer, and Disney lives up to that covenant every single time.

It’s easy to ridicule the seemingly fanatical insistence Disney has on referring to its employees as cast members, in considering the consequences of every word spoken on every program its networks air, in not allowing its male employees to grow beards, or in its sanitized image that seems unrealistic in modern society. But it would be foolish to attack the surface of the Disney brand and overlook the unprecedented success it has enjoyed for a number of decades. The company continues to grow, but never for a moment does it take its covenant,the promises it makes to its audience for granted.

Go to the Disney Web site at www.disney.com and you’ll see the company’s dedication to its core philosophy at work with every click. Want to discuss a vacation at Walt Disney World in Florida? You can book your vacation, including airfare, car rental, hotel, and theme park tickets, through Disney online. If you need personal assistance, phone numbers are always available. News about upcoming movies from the Disney studios can be found, including coming attractions trailers. Games are available for children and adults. Want to buy some Disney merchandise? The Disney Store has an online catalog. There is always the option of speaking to a Disney representative with any question or concern you might have. And the Disney Web site is careful not to provide links to ABC, Touchstone, or Miramax, because those companies deal in material that, although affiliated with the parent company, does not conform to the Disney brand. They are separate brands and are treated separately. They have their own Web sites.

While the philosophy is not directly presented to the consumer in words, it is not in the least difficult to discern or understand. Disney will provide you with high-quality, attentive customer service and a dedication to family. It’s there on the Web site, in the theme parks, and in the entertainment provided by the company under its own name. Under no circumstances does the Disney Company ever renege on those promises, and it holds firm to them in every aspect of its branded business.

On those occasions when there is even the suggestion of a break with the covenant, Disney works swiftly to correct the situation. When some video copies of its animated film The Little Mermaid were rumored to have an off- color visual joke in three frames (1/8 of a second), the company made sure the rumors were dispelled, and the offending three frames, although they really didn’t contain what the rumors said they did, were cut from subsequent copies. Disney takes its covenant very seriously.

BRANDING IS ESSENTIAL

Everything impacts on Branding–the smell of the bathroom, the signs in the window, the product being sold in the store, the things people say. One of the most powerful things that impacts all people’s perceptions is what they read, see, or hear about in the media, because it carries with it the imprimatur of the media outlet.

To illustrate: If a garage band pays to produce its own CD and sends out fliers to every record store in the country saying the album is a breakthrough collection, it won’t carry a fraction of the impact that same CD win have if someone on MTV uses the exact same words, because now the brand of the garage band has been enhanced with the brand MTV.

The old saying, "There is no such thing as bad publicity" is absolutely incorrect, however. Having a brand’s name mentioned in the media is a very strong influencer, and it can cut both ways. Should a media outlet say something negative about a brand-even if the information is proven to be totally inaccurate-the negative repercussions on the brand identity can be devastating. It can take a lot of damage control, in the form of advertisement, retractions from media outlets, and strong statements from the brand itself, to undo one misplaced comment from a credible media outlet. Sometimes the damage can’t be controlled or undone.

When public relations is done properly, an item of information is disseminated to media gatekeepers, who then decide to report the information either directly or indirectly. Reportage is done, research is accumulated, interviews are performed. Eventually the information item becomes a media report, and it is at that moment that the public relations professional can no longer control it entirely. Media outlets-particularly the most desirable, most credible ones- operate autonomously, reporting the information they deem necessary or interesting and excluding all else. Time constraints, space limitations, and the realities of economics play as prominent a role in the decision-making process as the newsworthiness of the information being considered.

If a company is launching a new brand, the temptation will exist to try to saturate the market with information on that brand. Often, when my company is contacted about the creation of a new brand or a new product, the request will be, "Get us as much exposure as you can." That is absolutely the wrong thing to request at that time, because it is not a strategic position.

Such a company should be requesting a strategic plan that is consistent with their short-, middle-, and long-term goals. (Short-term is defined as 6 months, mid-term as 18 months, and long-term as 36 months.) It’s very important to define those goals before seeking media exposure, because the lack of a goal is the lack of a plan, and that will obliterate any hope of Branding before it ever has the opportunity to begin.

In Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, there is a marvelous moment in which Alice, trying to find her way through the maze that is Wonderland, asks the Cheshire Cat for direction. The cat asks, quite logically, where Alice’s destination might be, and she replies that she doesn’t care where she ends up, but needs to know which road to take. Told that Alice doesn’t care where she’s going, the Cat replies, "Then it doesn’t matter which way you go."

Companies that want to create brands but don’t know what their specific goals are for the next 6, 18, or 36 months can’t possibly be expected to define their brand identity or the proper kind of media coverage they need to best exploit their brand’s possibilities.

A good percentage of Americans believe that Elvis is still alive; there’s no accounting for what people might think. But the reality is that a Branding campaign, fueled by public relations efforts, will fail miserably if it doesn’t have specific, well-defined goals in place for various points in the future before it begins.

How do the elite Branding experts determine their goals ahead of time and pass that information on to public relations professionals? It helps to be first in your field. Those companies that came to the marketplace before anyone else - Wal-Mart, Johnson & Johnson, Kleenex, Coca-Cola, Disney, McDonald’s-had an advantage before they generated their first media placement. Nobody was ahead of them, and they knew precisely what they intended to do.

Keep in mind that most of those brands established themselves very early with very little (in many cases, close to no) advertising budget to work with. They managed to create an impression in the minds of consumers without spending millions in magazines and newspapers or on radio or television (in those cases when radio and television existed at the brand’s inception).

They did it almost exclusively with public relations. These companies had a plan, a course of action, long before they had a brand name or a brand identity. They projected the possible sales for their products and services and had realistic goals for the coming six months, the coming year, the coming three years. In many cases, those goals were far exceeded, due in large part to the brilliant public relations campaigns that had been launched and executed to establish and support the brand. Without those plans, goals, and projections, there would have been no road map-and, as the Cheshire Cat would say, there would be no point in choosing one road over another, since it wouldn’t matter where you ended up anyway.

It is extremely important, then, to set realistic goals. In order to do that, the smart Branding practitioner needs to have a clear-eyed view of his or her own product and company. Only with that can a true brand identity be created, one that will capture the imagination of the targeted consumer and differentiate the new brand from whatever competition currently exists or will exist in the future. Keep in mind that even those who were first ended up dealing with competition. Kleenex may be the most famous brand of tissue available today, but it is far from the only one on the market.

Michael Levine is the founder of the prominent public relations firm Levine Communications Office, based in Los Angeles. He is the author of Guerrilla PR, 7 Life Lessons from Noah’s Ark: How to Survive a Flood in Your Own Life.

GuerrillaPR.net is a resource for people that want to get famous in the media, without going broke. http://GuerrillaPR.net

Yup — it’s hot and sticky and you don’t feel like doing much of anything — let alone working on publicity for your business.

But the summer months can actually be a great time to get publicity. Think about it. In these lazy days of summer, chances are your competitors have slowed down their efforts considerably, so you’ve got the edge. And with not much going on right about now, media people are probably more receptive to a fresh story idea — hopefully your story!

Here are some ideas you can think about while you’re relaxing with family or friends on a summer evening. Have a brainstorm session and see what great ideas come out of it.

1. Dream up a unique holiday that ties into your business. That’s just what Jacqueline Whitmore, Founder and Director of the Protocol School of Palm Beach, did. She created "National Cell Phone Courtesy Month" in July, 2002. And she keeps on receiving lots of publicity every year for this. You could get ongoing P.R., too — whether you think up a special day, week or month relative to your business. Note: To create your own holiday, go to "Submit an Entry" at www.chases.com, the Web site for Chase’s Calendar of Events.

2. Pitch summer stories that tie into your business. In June of 2002, my Hair Restoration Vacation pitch was well-received and led to a subsequent story for Dr. Alan Bauman, hair restoration surgeon, in July, 2002. The pitch, while unique, probably wouldn’t have worked at other times of the year.

3. Create a "must-go-to" event for your business. Most other businesses are not planning events now, so if you host one it will stand out. As an example, in Boca Raton, FL, the off-season is summer. Yet every August, "Wine and All that Jazz" — an event held at a top resort — is sold out!

Read more about Jacqueline Whitmore, Dr. Bauman, and how to create successful events in my Do-It-Yourself Public Relations Kit™, available at www.zfpr.com.

Copyright 2006 Margie Fisher All Rights Reserved

Margie Fisher, President of Zable Fisher Public Relations, is the author of the Do-It-Yourself Public Relations Kit. For more information on the Kit, the Pay for Results Publicity Program, and to sign up for the complimentary PRactical P.R. newsletter, visit http://www.zfpr.com

Although repetition is extremely important, there are times when advertising can help bring you a fast response.

If you’re having a fire sale, you want to advertise. You can put an ad out in a day, control what it says, and pick where and when it will run.

Media relations should never be viewed as a quick fix; it is a cumulative process. It needs to be an ongoing part of your business plan.

The process involves placing a story after story, segment after segment. You slowly build the image of your company or product, and establish yourself as an expert in your field, as someone whom the media seeks out, as someone who is presented to the general public as newsworthy.

Celebrity chef and restauranteur Wolfgang Puck is a perfect example of practicing effective media placement. He has been actively promoting his restaurants, his cooking and his food lines for years. He’s been on countless TV programs and featured in hundreds of print feature stories.

The result: There are millions of chefs in the world, but only one Wolfgang Puck.

Michael Levine is the founder of the prominent public relations firm Levine Communications Office, based in Los Angeles. He is the author of Guerrilla PR, 7 Life Lessons from Noah’s Ark: How to Survive a Flood in Your Own Life.

GuerrillaPR.net is a resource for people that want to get famous in the media, without going broke. http://GuerrillaPR.net

Media management has become one of the strategic tools for managers and leaders to drive marketing opportunities, communicate key messages, achieve social change or influence Government. Media and Communications Consultant, Thomas Murrell* shares 10 success tips for getting the best from the media.

The ability to lead, persuade and influence are integral skills for effective managers. The capability of telling a story that inspires, motivates and informs is an essential part of this process. In an age of convergence in the media and increased scepticism over traditional communication methods, a new breed of managers and leaders is emerging that sees the media as an opportunity and not a threat. They use the media in a pro-active way to build their organisation’s image, reputation and identity.

Business Review Weekly’s cover story "Future Leaders" editorial reported "new chief executives must have better presentation skills, for they will be required to perform in the electronic and printed media. Poor presentation will be perceived as a weakness in leadership, and arrogance or condescending attitudes will only be tolerated while the company is on top," (BRW December 14, 1998 P.14).

My role with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, as both a broadcaster interviewing key decision makers and as a manager providing editorial leadership for program makers, allowed me to observe first hand how effective leaders use the media to get their message across.

I now share this knowledge and experience with a range of clients to add value, improve performance and build capabilities. Our company has built a reputation for excellence in media strategy, issues management, change management, marketing communications, media training, financial journalism and professional speaking. A practical approach is focused on helping people strategically manage real-life situations.

Getting positive exposure in the media can be more powerful than any advertising campaign. It is far-reaching, utterly credible and free. As an added bonus, you may well attract an audience you had never anticipated.

But talking to reporters can be risky and threatening for first timers. You can say too much and lose control of the interview. You can say the wrong thing and damage your reputation. Or you can say "no comment" and lose an opportunity.

The only way to build your reputation is by learning the secrets of how the media works and we can help you do that.

10 Tips

These are 10 success tips that will help managers and leaders get the best from the media.

1. Know Your Strengths. What are you an expert at? What is your specialized area of expertise? What unique services or information can you offer? Position yourself as the expert.

2. Clarify your communication objectives? What do you want to achieve? To inform or entertain? To provide information? To build a profile? To influence public opinion? Personal marketing? Marketing or launching a new product or service?

3. Define your target audience? Who is your target audience? General public? Customers? Competitors? Suppliers? What age are they, what level of education, what beliefs and values, geographical location, how do they use the media?

4. Identify the best channels of communication. What is the best way to reach your target audience? TV, Radio, Internet, newspapers - local or Statewide, specialist or generalist, industry publications, community newsletters?

5. What is your key message? Distill what you want to say into three key points. Work out the best time to deliver this message and who will deliver it.

6. Build your case? What are the features, advantages and benefits of your message for your target audience? What evidence and proof do you have?

7. What is the hook? What will make your message or news release stand out from the rest? Be creative. Use a press release to control the information flow.

8. Develop long-term relationships with the media. Visit and meet them face to face. Network and get to know them.

9. Use the Three Golden Rules to Perform at your Best = Know Your Topic, Be Prepared, Relax.

10. Seek Professional Help. For maximum impact, effectiveness and value seek the advice of a media and communications professional.

Thomas Murrell MBA CSP is an international business speaker, consultant and award-winning broadcaster. Media Motivators is his regular electronic magazine read by 7,000 professionals in 15 different countries.

You can subscribe by visiting http://www.8mmedia.com. Thomas can be contacted directly at +6189388 6888 and is available to speak to your conference, seminar or event. Visit Tom’s blog at http://www.8mmedia.blogspot.com.

Because PR can be difficult to control, it is often discredited. According to Dick Lyles, president and chief operating officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies, a full-service consulting and performance improvement company, "People tend to migrate to things they can control. Even now, when an executive looks at an advertising message that’s exactly what they want to create, with exactly the right positioning and so forth, they say, ‘That’s the message I want to send.’ That’s great, even though people may not read it, or people may give it less value and discount it, because it’s advertising…. [On the other hand], if you get a well-placed article in a trade journal or you get some ink, people give it more credibility. The impact is greater, but because it may not come out exactly the way it was intended to come out, [businesspeople frequently] discount it."

The concepts of Branding and public relations are closely intertwined. The job of public relations is to encourage the public to have positive thoughts about a particular company, product, service, or individual. Branding is the idea that a particular set of attributes will encourage the public to have positive thoughts about a particular company, product, service, or individual. It’s a subtle distinction, but an essential one.

In order to best understand Branding and how it is done, it is necessary to examine and explain public relations. Many experts on Branding espouse the opinion that public relations are a vital part-if not the most vital part-of the Branding process. Public relations practitioners are particularly well suited to the Branding concept, since they are well versed in the techniques and practices that create a public identity very close to the central idea of a brand.

Unlike marketing or advertising, which are essential activities and indispensable to the creation of a brand, public relations is not devoted to a tangible object. Advertising executives create television, print, and radio ads; these are concrete, identifiable things. Marketing creates a product-be it a physical product or a service-and presents it to the public. That is an obvious, noticeable thing; it is not hard to understand.

Public relations does not do either of those things. When properly conceived and executed, a public relations campaign is next to invisible; the public does not know it’s there. More to the point, public relations does not create a physical manifestation of its effort: When PR is done right, it doesn’t leave the trace of a newspaper or magazine ad, a videotape, or an audiocassette that will win awards-and that can sometimes overwhelm the message being delivered.

What public relations does is to encourage third parties to deliver the message. Why? Because the third parties are news organizations, print journalists, and television and radio news programs and talk shows, which by definition have more credibility for the general public than an advertisement or the word of a company spokesperson.

In other words, public relations is meant to generate news coverage. It does so through planned events and through news stories (true news stories, it should be emphasized) suggested to reporters and their editors. When a newspaper runs an article about the unusual new promotion being done by a local business, that’s public relations. But to the reader of that newspaper, it appears to be an article generated by the editorial staff of the publication itself.- There is no advertisement disclaimer that runs over a PR-suggested news article. That makes sense, because the news editor always has the option of ignoring the suggestions made by public relations people. Editors and producers will rely on public relations for news leads, but will not simply act as a conduit, presenting the message from the public relations company’s client unedited and unconfirmed. Public relations can suggest, but not control, the message being sent. It is a very difficult tightrope to walk.

For example, in 2000, when the Beatles song compilation 1 was being released by Capitol Records, it presented (believe it or not) a public relations dilemma: how to promote an album full of songs that the entire target audience almost certainly owned in another form already.

The problem was solved in a number of ways. First of all, it was emphasized that these were the 27 number one songs the band had produced during its legendary career. Press releases noted over and over again that these songs had never been compiled on one album before. It was intimated that many in the group’s core audience might not have heard these songs on CD before, having bought them on vinyl records when they were originally released.

But more than anything, the public relations executives managed to generate publicity for the album with something that no other project could possible offer: access to the (at the time) three surviving Beatles for interview. News programs, interview shows, publications, and talk programs were all given opportunities (albeit brief ones) to interview at least one Beatle, and therefore the album was mentioned on countless air-waves and in publications for weeks before its release, and given very prominent placement.

The album went on to become a smash hit, reaching number one almost 40 years after the initial release of some of the recordings. It was yet another triumph for a legendary recording group, but it was also something of a coup for the public relations personnel involved. Yes, they had the luxury of three of the most famous faces on the planet, and the ability to use them. But the PR people who worked on that project also knew that they had to make something that wasn’t necessarily new seem vital and important, and they knew where the news story in the project was kept. Making sure the news got out was their job, and they did it admirably.

The best part: The public was never aware there were PR people involved at all. What average fans saw on TV was Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and/or Ringo Starr. They heard snippets of the songs they had loved for decades. And they were told that this was different; it was new; it was unique. That’s all the public needed to know. The fact that this message had been carefully constructed and the interviews painstakingly arranged was irrelevant to consumers; all they needed to know was that the Beatles were, more or less, back.

Public relations works behind the scenes, but its impact on Branding is enormous. Because PR generates interest, and precisely because it is working offstage, it is as valuable a part of the Branding process as can be imagined. And best of all, it’s often the, least expensive component in a sophisticated Branding machine.

As Adam Christing, president and founder of Clean Comedians, a company that provides meeting planners with G-rated comedians, says, "Public relations takes the brand and makes it mobile, makes it more visible. It’s like taking a band that’s been successful in a local neighborhood and taking it out on the road so more people can experience it."

Of course, when the message is not delivered in the form that was initially intended, that means the public relations professional has not done the job properly. The mistake can be in the design of the message itself-in particular, if the message that has been designed is a false or misleading one-or in the method of its delivery. It’s a fine thing to have a vital, exciting news story to tell, but if the presentation is ineffective, that story win not be told, or win be told in such a way that its original intention is lost.

Public relations is about messages and their delivery, but that isn’t all PR is. In correlation with Branding, the goal of public relations must always be to create a feeling in the mind of the target audience for which the message is being tailored. If Branding is about creating an identity for a product, service, or entity (company or individual), public relations’ contribution to Branding is about making that identity friendly and likable for the public–specifically, the public for which the message is intended.

Obviously, the feeling most PR aspires to create is a positive one. But the intention is vastly more complex than that: In truth, public relations seeks to create and maintain a consistent feeling of familiarity, trust, reliability, and confidence with the targeted public. If advertising is about getting the public’s attention, public relations is about delivering the message once the attention has been commanded. When people express an opinion about a product or a company, initially they’ll say they like or don’t like it, without offering further explanation. But when they’re given specific questions about their opinions, the effects of public relations become clear. When products are assigned personality traits or attributes by the public-"friendly," "environmentally aware … .. concerned with quality … .. accessible"-it means that public relations, in conjunction with advertising and marketing, has done its job. But because the public is naturally wary of advertising and marketing, and because those disciplines are considerably more visible than public relations, it is possible that PR makes the most honest, and deepest, impact on the public’s psyche.

How is the feeling created? Unlike advertising or marketing, public relations alms to influence public opinion without being noticed. So efforts made by companies to create goodwill through advertising and marketing are effective, but will be met with a higher amount of resistance from the public than a public relations campaign.

Michael Levine is the founder of the prominent public relations firm Levine Communications Office, based in Los Angeles. He is the author of Guerrilla PR, 7 Life Lessons from Noah’s Ark: How to Survive a Flood in Your Own Life.

GuerrillaPR.net is a resource for people that want to get famous in the media, without going broke. http://GuerrillaPR.net

As an owner of an independent record label, I often get asked how to put together a great press kit. I have found that young musicians understand their music, but are often intimidated by the marketing end of the business. In this article I will help you figure out how to position yourself, whether you are a Latin female vocalist building her base, or an upstart garage band just looking for a break.

What is a Press Kit:

First of all, there is nothing magical about the term “press kit”. All we are talking about is a little background on you/your band, some basic facts, good quotes about your music, a couple of good pictures, and a sample of your music. You will use this to send to newspapers, lawyers, radio stations, A&R reps, promoters, and anyone else who is willing to spend five minutes reviewing your material. Additionally, on the internet you will hear about an electronic press kit, or EPS. An EPS is the exact same thing as a conventional press kit, except it is downloadable as an electronic file instead of a hardcopy form which must be mailed.

The main purpose of the press kit is to generate interest in the artist and their music.

What to include:

Include a limited amount of background information on yourself. It is fine to say where you are from, but no one really wants to hear about every singing performance you did during elementary school. Sometimes less is more.

Talk about your music. Who do you sound like, and who does your music remind people of. The reader needs to be able to have a good idea of what your music sounds like just from your description. Be thoughtful and feel free to be a little funny here (but stay professional). Saying something like your band sounds like a cross between “Maroon 5 and Green Day after 20 cups of coffee” helps the reader understand. Remember, if you don’t generate enough interest in the first minute, they will never listen to your demo.

Talk about what you are good at. What makes your band special and different from others? What skills and experiences do you bring to the table? Remember if you are looking for a record deal, you need to prove to your reader that you have all the right ingredients for them to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars marketing you. Launching a new artist is risky, so you need to help the record exec understand why you are a solid investment.

Include quotes and/or press clippings as you generate them. A good quote from a reputable source (not your brother-in-law) can add a lot of credibility to your press kit. It lets the reader know that you have already been reviewed and your material is worth listening to. Ninety percent of press kits unfortunately end up in the trash, some good quotes and positive reviews can create the momentum necessary to get heard, and who knows – maybe even become famous.

You can go with one page dedicated to a bio (biography), and a separate page focused on quotes about your music, or you can combine the two into what some people call a “one pager”. My personal preference is to boil everything down to a tight one pager. My desk gets cluttered and papers get separated. If you have you quotes separate from your bio, there is a possibility that I could misplace one or the other. With the advent of digital photography and high quality color printers, it is even possible to include a small picture on your one pager to make it even more complete.

Make sure the overall language and tone of the press kit is consistent with your image. If you have someone help you write your bio, make sure they have heard you music and know what you are all about before they hand you something that might sound great, but isn’t about the real you.

Include a couple of different 8×10 pictures that show off different features about you and your band. Include shots that would be appropriate in a news article, but also highlight your key assets from a visual perspective. Your press kit should look professional, but your pictures should reflect your style and music, so you pictures can be much more crazy and creative. Make sure you clearly label the picture with you name and contact information.

If you don’t have good pictures of your band, one of the best ways to get some is to go to a modeling agency and ask for a referral to a good local photographer. These photographers are often willing to do some great work for around $300 for the whole package. Make sure you get an agreement upfront that you own the copyrights after the shot and get the high resolution digital images on CD (with a copyright release you can print these photos at any major retailer). A photographer who does work with models is very different from a photographer who takes family pictures. They have a much better idea of what you want, they will encourage your creativity, and they are much more willing to give you the copyrights.

A current gig sheet can also be useful showing where you have recently played and where you are playing in the near future. This can demonstrate that the music is current and has a following in the community.

And of course, your music. Send a high quality CD demo, preferably mastered if you budget permits. Avoid burning your own CD on your home computer with a stick on label – it looks cheap. There are many new CD duplication services on the internet that will manufacture you CD with a printed color insert, and on disc printing even if you only want a few copies (CD replication is for batches over 1,000 but CD duplication is for batch sizes as small as 1). Expect to pay around $5 a retail ready disc for 1-5 CDs, with prices dropping off for larger batches. Make sure you clearly label the CD and the case with you name and contact information. The worst thing in the world that could happen is that they love your music, but they have already lost the rest of the press kit and don’t remember the name of the band.

What Not to Include:

Don’t oversell yourself. Saying that you are the greatest band that ever lived, might be true, but it probably isn’t. Be positive and promote yourself, but focus on statements that are credible. People in the music business hear hype all of the time, and for the most part are numb to it. Hype is good to use with the general public on things like posters (they often believe it), but your press kit reader is more sophisticated and will see it as cheap theatrics.

Including too much of your personal history can make you seem like an amateur with nothing meatier to talk about. Your reader wants to understand your music today, only your psychologist needs to know about every little detail of your childhood.

Don’t include anything that makes you look too desperate. You want to come across as a quality professional artist. Remember, you make great music. If your band is called the Chicken Heads, then it might be cute to include a rubber chicken in the box, but otherwise I would stick to the basics – bio, quotes, gig sheet, pictures, and music.

How to Package It:

Include a professional looking, personalized cover letter targeted at the person you are sending the press kit to. Your message needs to be different if you are sending it to an A&R rep at a label seeking a record deal, versus sending it to your local newspaper for a review in their music section. Be brief and to the point. Also, be clear and state exactly what you would like from them.

Put it all together in an organized package. Since you are most likely mailing your press kits, make sure that the CD does not bend the photos, and that your kit will arrive looking the way you intend. You may even want to test a press kit (send it across the country to a wrong address, and then it will come back to your return address) to evaluate your packaging.

Your Music Is Art, But Your Press Kit Is Business:

Remember, be professional. The person you are sending this press kit to probably gets hundreds of them, most of them are garbage (and that’s where they end up too). Your music can be crazy and wild, but your press kit needs to be more business like. You are asking someone to spend their valuable time reviewing your material. You may also be asking them to enter into a high risk expensive financial relationship with you. The person you are dealing with is in the music business, they need to make a living. The only way they can do that is to deal with real talent. By presenting a professional package you give them confidence that you are dedicated to making great music, and not just messing around.

A Word About Unsolicited Press Kits:

Avoid wasting your time and money sending a press kit to someone you have not talked with already. Always call and make contact first, ask who you should send it to and what their process is. If possible, have someone who knows the person act as an intermediate and make the initial introduction (this can work wonders). The music business is all about contacts, create and leverage your network. After sending your press kit, call in a couple of weeks and follow up to make sure they received it and got a chance to review it.

Example:

To see a good example of a press kit, go to Legend Vega’s website at http://www.legendvega.com.

Scott Richards is the president of an independent record label, 3JVL Productions, Inc.

Want to hear great music?
Visit Legend Vega’s Official Website
http://www.legendvega.com

Like to download great tunes?
Download Free MP3s

Interested in pictures of beautiful models?
View sexy hot pics

HOW TO BE RELAXED AND EFFECTIVE ON-AIR

How does one stay calm, relaxed, and focused while being interviewed on the radio?

I’ve been both a guest and a host, and I’ve heard the nervousness in the voices of many callers, and seen it in the eyes of some first-time guests.

But I also know that it goes away with experience-even though that might be small comfort to newcomers who have the jitters. But until you have that experience, here are some tips for making the most of your time on the air.

Make the Media Your Friend

"One of the big problems is that people see the media as adversaries," says Joe Merica of the Merica, Burch and Dickerson public-relations firm in Las Vegas. "We tell our clients that the media are their friends. An interview is an opportunity to share your company’s views with the public." It is just as much an opportunity for the nonprofit service provider. Seize the opportunity. Prepare for it. Let it work for you.

Breathe Deeply.

You have probably heard this advice a million times, but honestly, it works. Before going on the air, inhale a few times very deeply, close your eyes for a moment, roll your head slowly around and relax your muscles-let them fall limp for a moment. Then tell yourself that this is just a conversation with a host and perhaps a caller or two talk to them as friends, not as a demanding, judgmental audience.

And keep the big picture in mind: If you are going on the air to talk about a worthwhile philanthropy, that powerful purpose should give you a special confidence and keep your thoughts focused on what it is you want to get across. When you’re thinking about how important your message is, you don’t have as much time and energy to spend thinking that ought to be nervous.

Media consultant Peggy Klaus uses an interesting metaphor. She counsels her clients to think of the microphone as a fan of theirs. "I tell them to imagine someone they love and who loves them is sitting there just dying to get the information, she says. This helps elevate the enthusiasm in the voice."

Learn to Be Brief

"Radio obviously focuses very directly on what you say," says reporter Sharon Katchen with KFWB radio in Los Angeles. "Your words and the sound of your voice define you for the radio listener whereas appearances can be more central to the impression left with people watching you on television."

For this reason, one of the central pointers for radio interviews is learn to be brief and to the point. "Radio demands that you cut the fat out of your language," says Katchen. "Make it lean and lively-get in with a point quickly and get out, and on to the next point."

Learn to Use Sound Bites

Perhaps more difficult than simply being brief, the electronic media demand that be witty in what you say. There is a well, known phrase for this type of word-nimbleness: It’s called talking in sound bites. These are phrases that encapsulate a big thought in a small, memorable kernel.

A politician who wants his budget plan to make a lasting impression doesn’t say, "We’re going to survey the appropriations schedule with an eye to increasing efficiencies, maximizing economies, and identifying and hopefully reducing areas of redundancy and overspending." He says, "We’re going to perform liposuction on the budget."

Susan J. Douglas is a Hampshire College professor, media critic for The Progressive, and author of "Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media." She is also something of a master of sound-biting, an art that helps her promote her book and her feminist philosophy. Here are a few of her sound bites.

• Concerning the mega hit book, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: "It sounds to me like a big apology for men not taking out the garbage-women have to try to understand men, they all came down from a spaceship."

• On the thin, waifish look that became popular for a time in modeling: "The image we’re all supposed to conform to is that of a thirteen-year, old anorexic. I don’t begrudge Kate Moss the chance to make some money, but go eat some pizzas. My God."

• Concerning her five-year-old daughter: "She’s still angry that a girl didn’t free Willy."

Learning to speak in this kind of colorful language is not easy for many people. The approach to take is to think how you can convey your message in shorthand, with a sassy zing. "You can be more discursive and detailed when you’re doing a print interview," says Sharon Katchen, "Because there is room for more facts to be spread over the page, and the reader has time to ponder them. In contrast, quickness and brightness are the keys on radio."

Roger Ailes, chairman of Ailes Communications, Inc., and a communications consultant to corporations and their CEOs, illustrates the point by setting side by side several thoughts expressed in two ways: one way is deadly boring-the other, filled with life. Which would you rather hear?

DULL

A. The two leading ways to achieve success are improving upon existing technology and finding a means of evading a larger obligation.

B. To construct an amalgam, you have to be willing to split open its component parts.

c. Capital will not produce great pleasure, but it will remunerate a large research staff to examine the questions proposed for a solution.

INTERESTING

A. "The two leading recipes for success are building a better mousetrap and finding a bigger loophole." EDGAR A. SCHOAFF

B. "To make an omelet, you have to be willing to break a few eggs." ROBERT PENN WARREN

C. "Money won’t buy happiness but it will pay the salaries of a large research staff to study the problem." BILL VAUGHN

Tell Stories

Another key to radio savvy is to be able to tell your message in the form of a story. We all love stories; we all urged our parents to tell us stories when we were little, and the human urge to hear a good story never goes away. Struggling smaller charities often have great stories to tell, but just as often aren’t getting their stories out on the modem electronic media.

Whenever possible, you should therefore seek to find a personal story to relate in your radio time. Keep your story short, but make it as moving and emotional as possible.

ADDITIONAL RULES FOR DEALING WITH THE RADIO

Here are final pointers for dealing with radio stations, adapted from the National Association of Broadcasters and the Defense Information School, as reported by Kenneth Jarvis, executive director of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

• Accept suggestions from any radio station people you deal with. Remember, they are experts in a field that is alien to you. Listen to what they say.

• Planning an appeal for funds or support? Check with the station first. Many have a policy against this type of program or broadcast. Also check your local statutes for the legal requirements for fund-raising. Many require that your organization be licensed before beginning a fund drive.

• Treat all stations fairly and equally. Do not favor one station, even if the others do not favor you.

• Respond cheerfully and completely to any station’s request information, advice, or assistance.

• Keep a file of the "hot line" number for each station-a number that is to be used for providing news and giving telephone "beeper" reports. A beeper is so- called because of the beep sound required on all recorded telephone messages, including recordings made over the telephone for later replay over the air.

• The best people for you to know at radio or television stations are the public- service director, the program director or manager, and the news director. Whether you are trying to get time on a program, spot announcement, or hard news or feature story, the backing and support of the station manager is invaluable.

The program director (or public service director) in turn is ultimately responsible for finding a place in the broadcast day for such programs or announcements.

Accept the fact that no matter how important your chairperson or board thinks a particular story is, it must stand on its own merits-being newsworthy to the audience the station serves-and that decision rests with the news director.

Michael Levine is the founder of the prominent public relations firm Levine Communications Office, based in Los Angeles. He is the author of Guerrilla PR, 7 Life Lessons from Noah’s Ark: How to Survive a Flood in Your Own Life.

GuerrillaPR.net is a resource for people that want to get famous in the media, without going broke. http://GuerrillaPR.net

Do you need a provocative, dynamic, and memorable keynote speaker? Send an email to Michael@guerrillaPR.net to check on Michaels scheduling availability.

Today’s issue of Lean Marketing Champions features tips on doing your own PR from one of our authors and PR goddess, Paula Gardner.

1. A Website.

Even if you think a website isn’t going to directly to contribute to sales, having a web presence makes it a lot easier for journalists to suss out a bit more about you before they commit themselves to getting in touch. And, once you’ve got your details and further information up there it’s not unknown for journalists to respond to a press release and write up their piece from your release and your website alone, without even getting in contact with you.

2. A Brand.

Having your brand defined, at least in your head, helps you market yourself boldly, strongly, and even provocatively if necessary. Think about what you represent. You don’t just sell financial products; you offer security and trustworthiness. You don’t only own a hair salon and cut hair; you offer a fresh new image, a time to change the way you look and feel about yourself. Think about mobile phone adverts – very few of them actually have a mobile phone in them but hint at aspirational lifestyle statements! It’s a technique that works.

3. A Thick Skin.

There will be those times when you call a journalist in the middle of press day and they grunt at you down the phone. Don’t take it personally. Just shrug it off and move on.

4. A Spring in your Step and a Smile on Your Face.

Most of us, journalists too, prefer to talk to someone who is optimist and cheerful. So, stand tall and put a smile on your face (even when you’re on the phone, it does work).

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5. Persistence.

Putting regular time in really makes a difference. So, get out your diary and schedule in some PR appointments with yourself for the next few months.

6. Help.

Whether it’s a VA, a colleague, a PR or media student, a willing friend in business or a PR Buddy, having someone who is not afraid to say “That press release is just too boring” is really worth finding.

7. Knowledge of the Press.

I often get clients who don’t read, never make the time to listen to the radio and are proud of the fact. I do empathise with them, but really, to have any success in PR you’ve got to know who you’re talking to. So, sit down and choose your target publications, list them and tick them off as you read them. Regularly.

A good resource that you but cheaply is the Writers and Artists Yearbook, available from Amazon. The Writers and Artists Yearbook 2005 will cover a good deal of publications (both newspaper and magazine in the UK). The Guardian Media Directory moves up a step in seriousness, covering the addresses, phone numbers, websites and key personnel for companies in every section of the media, from digital television to magazines, regional newspapers to publishing houses, think tanks to charities. The site www.mediauk.com is also a great top up resource.

8. A Fail Safe Method of Contact.

If you know that you’re not going to be around for long periods, whether it’s away at meetings or doing your day job, make sure there is someone who can at least take a message and hunt you down when the press come knocking. Because, unlike The Postman, they rarely knock twice.

===================================
Get Noticed! The Do Your Own
PR Handbook by Paula Gardner.
Buy It At www.BookShaker.com
====================================

Paula really knows her stuff on PR so why not get in touch at her website… www.doyourownpr.com

‘Dangerous’ Debbie Jenkins
debs@debbiejenkins.com

(c) Copyright 2005 www.BookShaker.com

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FIVE WAYS TO GET ON THE RADIO

Here are five basic methods of fitting your group into the programming at radio stations:

1) Spot messages

2) Feature stories

3) News

4) Interviews

5) And becoming a reporter.

Here are details on each method.

Spot Messages

Spot messages are short public-service announcements that most stations are required to carry as part of their license agreement. Getting a spot is not difficult; you must simply fulfill the program manager’s criteria for the types of charitable organizations the station is willing to sponsor.

If you are approved, some radio stations will write the public information spot for you. You need supply only the grist, the basics about your cause and your organization, and perhaps some flesh -and-blood examples of how you’ve helped.

But don’t count on getting such assistance. In the majority of cases, the staff is too busy to do this work for you. And even at stations where they’re prepared to help, supplying them with copy that requires minimal alteration makes it more likely your spot will eventually get made and aired.

If you need to write your own spots, here are basic tips for making your spot appealing.

1. First, remember that spots are typically only a minute long, so the message must be conveyed in a tightly wrapped form, with the accent on getting the listener’s attention from the very outset.

2. Spot messages can be informational, telling listeners about the problem your organization seeks to alleviate and how you go about doing it. In this case, you need to accent the human dimension of things: a story about someone you’ve helped, or an individual volunteer’s experiences, for instance.

Alternatively, a spot message can be motivational, urging listeners to get involved and help give the problem a cure. These kinds of spots demand a tone of enthusiasm and challenge. They’re pitched directly at the listeners, summoning them to respond personally.

The appeal should be frank, candid, direct, yet upbeat, not an exercise in guilt- tripping. "You have what it takes to help a child in need," is a good example of a positive way to appeal to someone’s best instincts.

In contrast, a downbeat tone, intended to shame people into helping your cause, doesn’t conform well with the radio medium: People are listening for enjoyment and entertainment, and a public information spot that hits a discordant tone is likely to cause irritation- a switch of the radio dial.

3. No matter what station the promotional spot will run on, keep the language conversational. Don’t write in long, run-on sentences. Use short, active phrasing. ("We want to hit a home run against hunger," for instance. Not: "The societal disorders evidenced by homelessness should give us all pause for concern."

4. Write with directness to take advantage of the immediacy of radio. Speak to listeners as if they were your friends. Be personal and friendly, projecting a relationship between your organization and your listeners with liberal use of words like "you" and "yours."

5. Avoid jargon, slang, acronyms, or unfamiliar words that might cause people to scratch their heads instead of focusing on the important things you have to say.

6. If the radio station runs your spot, be sure to write a note of thanks. "Station personnel are like everyone else," says Pete Weitzner of Century Cable. "They like to feel appreciated, and organizations that show appreciation are more likely to be helped by people at the station again in the future."

Feature Pieces

Feature pieces are another form of programming that can provide you an opening to a station. Your feature piece could be an interview or a report on an event you are sponsoring in your community. Feature pieces are usually more analytical and in-depth than spots or news stories.

If you identify a local radio station that does occasional features, call to find the names of the producers who oversee them. Write to these people about your project, and the social problem you are covering. Give solid examples of people being assisted by your efforts. Say that you would be happy to help the station with your experience and expertise should they be interested in doing a feature dealing with your issue.

As with newspapers, I also recommend following up your letter with a phone call, telling the producer you "just wanted to make sure" the letter arrived, and you’d be happy to answer any questions he or she might have.

Again, as with follow-ups for standard press releases, it’s useful to have additional noteworthy facts to offer when you make phone contact, to spark more interest.

Feature stories are most interesting when they include real people. If there’s someone whose life has been turned around by your charitable organization, that’s the kind of story people like to hear-and radio can convey it effectively. So make sure the producer knows if there is such a potential story about your nonprofit.

News Stories

A charity can be proactive in its approach to radio news, attempting to generate news stories about itself with press releases. Those releases should be geared to the style of radio news writing, which gets the basic point of the story across in the first sentence or two, adds some descriptive imagery, and ends fairly quickly.

There is also the possibility that your organization’s work could be mentioned in the context of a "hard news" story. In fact, when you write to the radio- station producer for any reason, you might gain a special advantage by linking your organization’s story with a topical story in the news that week or month. "If your message can be wrapped into a news story … that catches a programmer’s eye, he or she is likely to add it to the end of an announcer’s newscast," writes Marty Schwartz, vice president of sales at New USA, a public- relations firm in Virginia. "Of course, not every message can be … successful. There has to be some news value or public-service value inherent in the message. If it just a ‘product’ pitch, programmers will make their own pitch- into the circular file-and be sore that you wasted their time. So this is where some creative thinking about how it can be presented is really valuable."

Even if an expanded feature program doesn’t fit into the station’s schedule, a producer or news director who finds your story interesting might see the opportunity to broadcast an interview with you, or to let someone in your organization interview someone else involved with the charity.

Interviews

Radio interviews can be divided into three broad categories.

1. The first is akin to feature reporting-a longish interview, conducted by someone with the station, in which the subject matter and general questions are known in advance. Such exchanges can even be scripted. But authenticity is enhanced when there is some spontaneity, so it is better to request a format in which you don’t stick to a text, but only to an overall framework of questions that have been agreed to in advance.

2. There is the interview conducted by the charity itself. While these can be effective, especially if done with leeway for ad-libbed conversation to boost credibility, there is something more authoritative for many listeners when a station employee conducts the interview.

3. There is the news interview conducted by a reporter. These can be the most intimidating exchanges for the interviewee, because the questions aren’t reviewed in advance, so you have to be quick on your feet in answering.

If you have an opportunity to choose among these various formats, the one that usually offers the most potential to show you and your organization to best advantage is the first, because it is more relaxed and you’re usually given a chance to know what you’ll be asked about and to frame your responses in advance.

If you are interviewed, it is recommended that you try to get to know the interviewer before the tape actually starts rolling. This will help you relax during the interview itself. When the interview is under way, don’t step on the interviewer’s questions, and pace yourself in your answers.

And when it is over, make sure get a recording of your appearances, just as with any print stories that appear about your organization, you should collect your radio "clips"-i.e., record your appearances-and assemble a little cassette of your best sound bites. These can be used for an "audio press kit" to help line up future radio appearances.

Becoming a Reporter

A last way you can gain access to radio is to become something of a reporter or commentator for a station in your area. If you play your cards right, you can turn into a station’s local expert, who is called on whenever news relating to a specific issue arises.

Gary Millspaugh, executive director of the Allentown Rescue Mission in Allentown, Pennsylvania, knows the value of becoming a resource to a radio station. "I attended the Presidents’ Summit on volunteerism in Philadelphia," he says. "I thought hard in advance about how to turn that trip into publicity for our rescue mission, which serves up to eight hundred homeless men per year, and has a 70-percent success rate in getting people out of the debilitating problems that led them to the streets. Our graduates get into jobs and a responsible, self-sufficient life."

To turn his trip to the Summit into more than just a jaunt to Philadelphia, he called his contacts at major radio stations (he is meticulous, he says, in always nurturing relationships with key people in the local media) and he let them know that he would be attending the Summit and could offer first-person perspective. His efforts won him two rounds of publicity.

First, he got coverage prior to the Summit for being a local service-provider who would be going to the event. Second, he got publicity while he was in Philadelphia. After President Clinton’s speech, for instance, Gary called one of the largest Allentown-area stations, and was put on the air during drive-time (the afternoon "rush hour," when listenership is highest). "I basically became their on-the-scene commentator on the president’s speech and the Summit," he recalls.

This kind of vigorous courting of the media is "essential" for any charity that wants "to survive in the incredibly competitive world of nonprofits today,"

Gary argues. "The inescapable fact is that if you’re a nonprofit or a charity, you’re engaged in a competitive activity. You have to view it as competitive. As rough as it might sound, you’re in a win/lose proposition. If you don’t put your resources to a winning use, you’ll lose-and be out of the business of helping others."

If you’re as successful as he was in winning an opportunity to become sort of a freelance reporter on a social issue, keep in mind some basics of radio journalism. Facts should be conveyed clearly and accurately. Keep your sentences short. Use words that carry color and meaning. Make the chronological presentation orderly and understandable.

THE GREAT WORLD OF TALK RADIO

In addition to the above methods of getting your message on the radio, there is also an entire world of talk radio that offers you instant access to the airwaves.

In fact, talk radio offers excellent possibilities for organizations with a socially significant message, especially if you have someone in your organization who can be seen as an expert in a field.

(Ironically, the more you appear on talk radio, the more you become an expert, as one’s expertise usually gains a heightened status from being on the radio.)

One advantage of some talk-radio shows is that their audiences may be more affluent, with more money to invest. This observation should perk up ears among charities and nonprofits looking for donors.

But while talk-radio provides fertile ground for publicity, you should still remember that radio stations operate not to perform charity but to generate ratings so they can make money.

So they’re not going to invite a spokesman for a charitable group on who has nothing interesting to talk about.

They’re not going to devote their time to conversations about next weekend’s fundraising car wash.

This means that your creativity is highly tested if you seek to get on talk radio, just as with all other aspects of promotional campaigns. When you contact a radio station producer to suggest focusing on something that has to do with your nonprofit cause, the producer is going to ask what’s unique and interesting about your subject: What is it that will grab listeners and keep them from pushing another button on the dial?

That’s the question you have to ask yourself about every idea you consider pitching to any media outlet. You have to be able to answer it again and again during your marketing efforts. If you can’t answer it, you have no business doing promotion in the first place.

One wonderful advantage of radio today is that you don’t have be in the studio to perform your part. You can be on the phone, calling from your office, car, or from across the country. You are simply "patched in" to the show, with the audience knowing nothing about where you are located.

Interviews on talk-radio programs can vary from fifteen min to an hour in length. On many shows, guests are also asked to take calls from listeners.

If you have an opportunity to be on a talk, how, it is useful to give your host a list of ten to fifteen questions that you would like to be asked.

Although there is no guarantee your questions will be used, many hosts appreciate having your questions supplied because they interview such a wide variety of guests that they can’t be well-versed on all the subjects under discussion. Your questions therefore act as pointers and cues that make them look intelligent and knowledgeable.

On the other hand, be careful about getting too scripted. When an organization seeks to get on talk shows, it is best to choose the person among its staff or officials who is most knowledgeable and articulate about the group and its work and can ad-lib.

Many shows like to be flexible, taking a diversion from the announced subject. After all, nothing runs as smoothly when it’s scripted. The worst shows are the ones where they just read off a list of questions. So be sure your spokesperson is comfortable talking on his or her feet.

Here are a few additional pointers for targeting talk radio.

• To increase your chances of being on radio stations around the country, submit your name and organization’s project to Newsmaker Interviews, a publication to which dozens of radio stations across the country subscribe. It lists potential guests and their topics in detail.

• Another publication to consider is The Yearbook of Experts, Authorities and Spokespersons, which provides an "encyclopedia of sources" to subscribing hosts and producers from media outlets nationwide. It has a Web site: www.yearbooknews.com.

Talk-radio producers are heavily worked, almost always busy lining up guests and arranging the logistics of each program. You might not reach a producer the first time you try calling. Persistence is usually required.

• When you call a talk-radio producer, show that you know something about the program by mentioning a recent topic or guest.

• Try to link your idea with some issue or event that’s in the news. Most producers look to the headlines first in trying to line up show topics.

• If you can inject controversy into your topic, you have an advantage in trying to get a guest spot. Talk radio generally thrives on dramatic issues and exchanges. It isn’t supposed to be sleep-inducing.

Look for the third part of this article, next week.

Michael Levine is the founder of the prominent public relations firm Levine Communications Office, based in Los Angeles. He is the author of Guerrilla PR, 7 Life Lessons from Noah’s Ark: How to Survive a Flood in Your Own Life. He is available as a keynote speaker. He can be contacted by email: Michael@guerrillaPR.net

GuerrillaPR.net is a resource for people that want to get famous in the media, without going broke. http://GuerrillaPR.net