Once upon a time, there was a young, stressed out corporate events planner called Tanya. She was organising a large-scale event for her firm’s biggest client.

In the midst of organising the guest list, Tanya’s boss told her that the client had requested some video footage be edited together to open the event. It had to be done in a hurry.

Tanya asked her boss, “What do they want the video to tell their audience?”

“Oh, they don’t have any messages”, said her slightly panic stricken manager, “they just want to show footage that was taken years ago that seems relevant for their new launch”.

Tanya knew nothing about video production. She didn’t even have the time to find out. After quickly talking to a few production houses, she chose one that was close by that had quoted a cheap price.

The production house was able to quickly edit the footage together in one day. They did what she said, but deep down she knew she really had no idea what she wanted or why the video was being made.

The video opener was used to kick start the event. Tanya noticed that nobody seemed enthralled by the vision and that some people started talking half way through. Luckily, the client and her boss seemed happy with the result.

A couple of months later, Tanya was out at a networking function. She met another corporate event planner who told her how well video had been used at their events. Tanya was amazed and asked what they were doing.

“The most important thing we do is spend the time working out what the video has to do”, said the vibrant woman. “Then, we make sure that it ties in to our theme and our communication objectives. If you just edit together a collage of pretty pictures, all you’re doing is creating a meaningless video that doesn’t connect with people. People get bored because there is no clear message”.

‘Next time’, she advised, ”spend the time working out what the video needs to do, before getting anything made. Work out the objectives with your client and refuse to just make anything just for the sake of it. Otherwise, all you’ll do is waste their money”.

There are lots of event planners and PR account managers like Tanya who are put into this situation.

Tight deadlines, lack of clear client direction, little knowledge of how video can be used and minimal budget all compound to make it really difficult to create a video that pulls people in.

The secret is skilled strategic planning. All this requires is spending some time working out the objectives.

First of all, what is the event all about? Is it a company celebration or an awards night? Is it a product roll-out or a publicity event? What problem does the video need to solve? These days, the need for return on investment is imperative. By having some defined goals, you will have metrics to measure the success of your video.

Second, describe the audience. Does it include sceptical buyers or excited employees? How likely are they to take home your message?

And last of all, what are the main communication messages? Do you want your audience to learn about the success of others? Or do you need them to be sympathetic to your messages?

When you have important messages that need to cut through, you need to get out the big guns.

The Use of Emotion

Want to get a message across that won’t be forgotten? Then, remember this formula. E+I=C. Emotion plus Information equals Communication.

Using the right blend of emotion and information is a powerful way to get people to listen to what you have to say. And want to hear more.

If you really want to captivate a large group with a message, you have to grab them with emotion. Otherwise, you’ll have a bored and noisy bunch who will turn to the alcohol for entertainment far too early in the night.

For special events, create a video that has an emotional angle to the set mood and tone. Use video to inspire, motivate or excite.

Communicate with Stories

Story telling is a powerful way to pull people in and listen to what you have to say. Let’s face it; we all know how relaxing it is to chill out at the movies or in front of the television to watch stories about other people.

There are many ways to tell your story in a corporate environment. Show re-enactments, use historical footage and photos, interview people and use engaging case studies. Make use of video testimonials.

The Gift of Music

Music has a way of touching the soul like no other type of communication. Used properly it can make people laugh, cry and feel inspired.

Used badly and it will turn people away.

At an awards night I once attended, a motivational video was displayed that featured greyhound racing highlights throughout the year.

It pulled out all the tricks in the book - action shots, over-animated titles, emotional winners and screamingly bad 80’s guitar music. The type that instantly made you think of bad hair, leery jumpsuits and ridiculous make-up. The result was an audience who stopped watching and spent the rest of the night complaining about it.

The only other caution with music is that everyone wants to use commercial tracks. This music requires expensive licensing fees and permission from the artist. Royalty free or production music are often the best choices. A good producer will be able to choose the right music for your production.

So if you are an over-worked Tanya type, who needs to produce a video in a hurry, just remember that you are wasting your time and money, if it has no specific message. Spending a couple of extra hours working out what the video needs to do will create an enjoyable and successful event that people will remember for years to come.

(c) Marie-Claire Ross 2005. All rights reserved.

Marie-Claire Ross is the Director of Digicast Productions a full-service, concept-to-completion video production facility specialising in videos that connect with your audience. She can be contacted on 0500 800 234 (Australia wide) or at mc@digicast.com.au. The website is at http://www.digicast.com.au

"We are in the communications business, the business of conveying messages to the human brain," said the late David Sarnoff, founder and president of RCA. "No man is wise enough to know which avenue to the brain is best. Therefore, the sensible idea is to make all avenues available for carrying the message."

In short, a sophisticated promotional effort, even for the most fledgling charity organization must target the electronic media to effectively reach the audience you want as contributors and volunteers. This article will show you how to tap into the great world of radio.

UNDERSTANDING THE MEDIUM OF RADIO

Radio is the oldest of the electronic media, and it has a number of characteristics that are important to understand if you want to use radio properly in your promotional campaigns.

First, radio is the medium that brings you closest to your audience. Radio can make you feel like you’re having a chat with millions of listeners, just as President Franklin Roosevelt had his famous "fireside chats" with the nation, via radio, during the Depression. For listeners, radio calls the senses into active involvement with the message to a degree that television doesn’t. The mind’s eye goes to work, creating images to go along with the inflection of the voice on the radio and the pictures painted by the words. Old-time radio dramas and comedies had that effect, con, luring up vivid pictures in the minds of families gathered around "the wireless."

The possibilities for you and your charity to give mental pictures to your audience, and to capture their interest in deep and probing ways, is powerful.

I speak with experience on the ability of radio to link speaker and listener. I do a weekly radio commentary on KFWB, an all-news station in Los Angeles, and I am a frequent guest on talk-radio programs across the country. I am also frequently interviewed national and local radio-news people for comments on Hollywood culture, the media, and marketing and publicity.

The response I get from people who hear me over the radio airwaves is quite extraordinary. Invariably I find people grappling with the content of my comments far more when they’ve heard me over the radio than when they’ve seen me say something on television. A listener who has heard me on the radio will typically ask me to explain, elaborate, or provide justification for some point I made. In contrast, people who have seen me on TV are more likely to give me a simple comment, such as "I saw you on TV!" without pursuing any issue or stance I may have taken on the television show.

Second, radio is a fast medium, allowing you to get out a message quickly. While it took five months to get word back to Queen Isabella about the voyage of Columbus, and two weeks for Europe to hear about Lincoln’s assassination, it took only 1.3 seconds to get the word from Neil Armstrong that a person could walk on the moon. Today, it takes less than thirty seconds to let the world know about anything, from the latest turn in Middle Eastern diplomacy, to a report that Madonna had her baby. The speed of radio is useful to keep in mind whenever you have a timely announcement that you believe you must get across quickly.

Third, radio is still largely unfiltered, allowing ideas to be tested and tossed around in robust debate. While some of the hosts and callers of talk radio sensationalize their messages, or are pure-and-simple wacky, radio at its best offers a modern-day equivalent of the old town-hall gatherings, where everyone is free to give vent to their opinions and complaints and the marketplace of ideas is at its most vibrant. This can be useful for charities and nonprofits that can benefit by tapping into the collective social conscience of a community through discussion and debate.

Finally, radio is still a regulated medium that is supposed to carry a modicum of public-interest fare. According to the Communications Act of 1934, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is empowered to issue radio- broadcasting licenses "if public convenience, interest, or necessity will be served."

Although these words are interpreted very broadly today, many radio stations see themselves as having a social responsibility to broadcast interviews, feature stories, and public-service announcements (PSA’S) designed to promote local charitable ventures. This is obviously a significant advantage for charities and nonprofit groups.

DESIGNING YOUR RADIO STRATEGY

Tapping into your local radio network is actually not difficult. The first step is to become familiar with the radio stations in your area. Which ones have public-interest segments or programming themes that are compatible with the message you’re trying to get out?

The only way to discover which stations are best for you is to systematically listen to every station in your community. To save time, a good approach is to apportion out the listening task among many members of your organization. Each person can be assigned a few stations to listen to and report on. I recommend that you listen to each station over the course of a week, studying and getting familiar with their announcers, their style and type of programming, and the audience they appeal to.

After listening to the stations, begin making contact with the program manager at each station. Begin by calling the stations and asking for the program manager’s name. Then write a letter to the person, asking about the station’s policies on feature programs, special interviews, and public- information spots to profile a charity such as yours.

In most cases, you will receive a reply letter spelling out the policies. Pay close attention to every point and nuance that the manager includes in the letter you get back, because if you submit material for use by the radio station, it must comply in form with any rules or parameters that the station has given you. For example, you can’t expect station personnel to rewrite a press release or a public-service announcement that is longer than station rules dictate. You must take note of those rules from the outset, and make sure any announcement you send the station abides by them.

When checking out radio stations, don’t be put off by a radio station’s emphasis, whether it is an all-music or mostly-music format, or all-news. All of these formats potentially provide some opportunity for a charity to get its message broadcast. Even all music or all-sports formats often make space for spot announcements during breaks for advertising.

To improve your chances of being of interest to a station, you must therefore be closely in tune with the station’s audience. You need to figure out their interests, their age ranges and demographics, so you can make your pitch in language that they can relate to and with examples that draw them in. If it’s a sports-oriented station, for example, sports analogies would make sense.

Look for the second 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.

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

Effective Media Relations Tips - What To Do After The Media Interviews You! By Thomas Murrell MBA CSP, International Business Speaker You’ve done all the hard work - prepared a media kit, engaged with a reporter and they’ve listened to your message and asked questions.

What now?

Well, effective media relations doesn’t just stop once you have been interviewed.

There are many ways to leverage your media experiences to help build your brand, reputation and image management skills.

Here are five tips on what to do after the media has interviewed you.

1. Implement a Professional Media Monitoring Service How will you know what media coverage you are getting if you don’t monitor it?

Media monitoring collecting and evaluating all press featuring your company or industry. The media however can involve print press, radio, websites, TV and even blogs and it is wise to enlist a professional media monitoring service. These services use keywords to search all media outlets and email summaries immediately to the company with links to the full articles. Often media monitors can break down searches to specific geographical areas. These services provide a far more precise and detailed evaluation of your company’s media with less chance of missing something that has been published.

2. Analyse Your Quotes

After the story has been run analyse which quotes the reporter has used. Often a one-hour interview may result in just one or two key quotes being selected by the journalist. This offers an insight on the way the media operates and what journalists look for in interviews. The more you understand how the media works, the more you can customise your message to what they want and the greater the chance of success in your comments being used by the media.

3. Understand What Quotes or Sound Bite Elements Were Used

Pay particular attention to exactly which quotes were used and how effective they were at relaying your message. This offers a personal insight into your own media techniques and can identify areas that require further attention and training. For example: simple, direct quotes are often favoured by the media. If a lot of the article has been paraphrased perhaps your messages were too long or confusing or weren’t articulated well.

By combining your understanding of the quotes used, identifying areas of weakness in the interview and examining the workings of the media you will have a greater understanding and chance of stronger media relations in future interviews.

4. If You Like Your Quotes Re-use Them

Good quotes are like diamonds. They are often formed under intense pressure. They are valuable, unique and when polished, cut and set can really make you shine. If you’ve made the diamond and had it set, why not show it off as many times as possible.

If your quotes communicate your message well, re-use them again and again. Not only are they effective in relaying more message but have been approved for use by the media, that is they identify with what the media views as a "good" quote. It is more important to communicate your message confidently, clearly and consistently than it is to be original.

5. Never Get Angry or Trash The Media

If you get interviewed but not quoted, resist the temptation of trashing the newspaper, magazine or reporter and getting angry. Instead, analyse the quotes that were used by others and try to improve your message delivery so they could have been better crafted and therefore more likely to be used. The quickest way to improve your knowledge in this important and growing area is to learn more about how to craft messages that even the most cynical reporter will want to use.

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/

Sure, as a manager, you have a talented member of the PR team assigned to your department, division or subsidiary, or housed at your agency, and s/he is darn good at placing product and service plugs on radio and in the newspaper. Which may be all you want. And that’s fine.

Unfortunately, when your PR folks concentrate primarily on tactical fixes like publicity placements, at least be aware of what you are NOT getting.

You don’t get a comprehensive effort that persuades those important outside folks to your way of thinking, then moves them to take actions that help your department, division or subsidiary succeed.

You don’t get the use of the high-impact, fundamental premise of public relations to deliver external stakeholder behavior change – the kind that leads directly to achieving your managerial objectives.

And you don’t get the creative potential of your assigned PR team needed to positively impact the behaviors of the very outside audiences that MOST affect your business, non-profit or association.

That’s a fair amount NOT to be getting!

It certainly doesn’t sound like the best use of your public relations resources, but it’s fixable. In which case, you might begin to see results such as prospects starting to do business with you; fresh proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures; membership applications on the rise; customers starting to make repeat purchases; capital givers or specifying sources starting to look your way, community leaders beginning to seek you out; welcome bounces in show room visits; politicians and legislators starting to view you as a key member of the business, non-profit or association communities, and even higher employee retention rates.

From Day 1, you have to get the public relations people assigned to your unit on board. Make certain they all accept the realities that it’s vitally important to know how your outside audiences perceive your operations, products or services. And that perceptions almost always lead to behaviors that can hurt your unit.

Get your team involved in plans for monitoring and gathering perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audiences. Questions like these: how much do you know about our organization? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with the interchange? How much do you know about our services or products and employees? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?

After all, your PR people are in the perception and behavior business to begin with, so they can be of real use for this opinion monitoring project. Professional survey firms are always available, but that can be very expensive. But whether it’s your people or a survey firm who asks the questions, your objective is to identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, and misconceptions .

Then you must decide which of the above troubles rate designation as your corrective public relations goal – for example, clarify the misconception, spike that rumor, correct the false assumption or fix a certain inaccuracy.

In the same way soy sauce goes with stir fry, the right PR strategy tells you how to reach your goal. But just three strategies are available in matters of perception and opinion — change existing perception, create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. But be sure your new strategy is a natural fit with your new public relations goal.

When you finally have the chance to address your key stakeholder audience to help persuade them to your way of thinking, what will you say?

Here’s where a talented writer earns his or her keep because s/he must put together some very special, corrective language. Words that are not only compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if they are to shift perception/opinion towards your point of view and lead to the behaviors you have in mind.

Now the job gets easier – select communications tactics to carry your message to the attention of your target audience. Making certain that the tactics you select have a record of reaching folks like your audience members, you can pick from dozens that are available. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others.

As the method of communication can affect the credibility of the message, you may wish to deliver it in small meetings or presentations rather than through high-visibility media announcements.

Questions will soon surface as to progress. And that will require a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience. Employing many of the same questions used in the first benchmark session, you will now be watching carefully for signs that the offending perception is being altered in your direction.

In this business, we’re fortunate that efforts such as this can be accelerated by adding more communications tactics as well as increasing their frequencies, if deemed necessary.

We’re also fortunate that the people we deal with behave like everyone else – they act upon their perceptions of the facts they hear about us and our operations. Which leaves us little choice but to deal promptly and effectively with those perceptions by doing what is necessary to reach and move our key external audiences to action.

So, in the proverbial nutshell, here you have a workable public relations blueprint that can help you persuade your most important outside stakeholders to your way of thinking, then move them to behave in a way that leads to the success of your department, division or subsidiary.

About The Author

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communi- cations, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit: http://www.prcommentary.com

Before you even think about writing a press release, there are a few things you need to know about the media. Here’s the first - and most important - of them:

1. Journalists receive hundreds of press releases every week

Depending on the publication they’re writing for, they may even get hundreds of press releases every day. So you’re up against some pretty stiff competition. Obviously you’re going to have to make sure your press release stands out, and grabs her attention. But how?

2. The vast majority of these press releases remain unread.

Luckily, the situation isn’t quite as desperate as it may seem. You don’t really have to compete with all of these hundreds of press releases. You only have to compete with the good ones. The reason? The rest of them go straight to that round metal filling cabinet on the floor…

When I worked as a reporter, it was my job to plough through the huge pile of press releases we received every day. Pretty soon I realized that only around 5% of them were ever any use to us. The rest were either transparent attempts at self-promotion from local business owners, or were on subjects which our newspaper just didn’t cover.

What can we learn from this? Well, two things:

* If you want your press release to be read, you have to give the journalist the kind of news they’re interested in covering

* In order to do this, you have to actually READ their newspaper.

Back to our journalists, and the final two things you need to know about them.

3. Journalists are very, very busy

Unfortunately, the newspaper industry is similar to many other industries in that there’s a tendency to hire fewer staff than are really needed. This is bad news for journalists, but it’s also bad news for your press release, as it basically means that the journalist you send it to will probably not have time to read it properly, and will simply scan the first line. If that first line doesn’t grab their attention, they’ll file it straight into the bin.

4. The media don’t owe you anything

Here’s something that most people forget: newspaper owners are running a business too. Their business makes money by selling copies of their newspaper, and trust me, they’re in it for the money: they’re not providing a public service.

When I worked on local newspapers, we would get a lot of phone calls from people who seemed to feel that it was our duty to print the stories they gave us, whether it was about their child winning a prize at school or their business winning a new client.

The problem was that as much as we’d liked to have helped these people, we were running a business. The success of that business depended on us providing news that people actually wanted to read, and, sadly, no one really wants to read about a child winning a book token or a business signing a new contract. (Unless, of course, you’re the child’s parents or the owner of the business.)

So, now you know a little bit about the media, it’s time to sit down and write that press release…

(This article is an extract from the ebook "PR Power: How to Write a Killer Press Release – and make sure it gets published" by Media Relations Expert Amber McNaught.)

Amber McNaught is the author of "PR Power: How to Write a Killer Press Release – and make sure it gets published!" Buy the ebook online for $9 (£4.99) here.

Amber also offers an affordable press release writing and distribution service.

Corporations are willing to pay substantial amounts of money to prominent personalities so that consumers will relate the brand with their favorite star, and thus will be more likely to buy the product. The buying public imparts credibility to the celebrity because of his or her charisma as well as the credibility that comes with prominence in the media. The power of someone’s personality also entails risks for the brand with which they are associated, because any controversial behavior may reflect badly on the product. This has become an especially frequent problem in recent times.

Whoopi Goldberg, for example, lost her Slim Fast contract due to her abrasive remarks regarding the President. The people at Slim Fast did not want their brand associated with a personality embroiled in controversy, who was likely to upset people by insulting a respected figure. In 1989, Pepsi dropped Madonna for her "sacrilegious" "Like a Prayer" video. McDonald’s allowed Kobe Bryant’s contract with them to lapse after a woman accused him of rape. After allegedly entering a special treatment program for anorexia, Mary-Kate Olsen vanished from the "Got Milk?" campaign. Hip-hop star Ludacris became another Pepsi casualty when executives heard Bill O’Reilly remark upon the obscenity of the rapper’s lyrics, and decided he wasn’t beneficial for their soda’s reputation.

Sometimes celebrities act indignant when they lose an endorsement due to remarks they made or other forms of expression in which they indulged, as if their freedom of speech has been violated. Whoopi Goldberg felt she was being "punished" for speaking freely. The First Amendment says nothing about having an inherent right to multi-million dollar deals, just that the State cannot prosecute you for the content of your expression. On the other hand, if the State were to dictate Slim Fast’s ad campaign by forcing them to retain Goldberg, that would be a violation of Slim Fast’s rights.

For many years, celebrities like Whoopi have made enviable amounts of money from endorsements, but now that they are getting axed so frequently, they may need to take caution if they want to keep this source of revenue. Celebrities are not so irreplaceable and unique. Companies fed up with prominent scandals can easily resort to lesser-known actors who have not accumulated a reputation, bad or otherwise. Advertisers can even employ animated or animal mascots, who have absolutely no independent life of their own, and thus will not ever bring shame upon the company name. Thus, household names who lose their reputation may also lose their big advertising money to, let’s say, Tony the Tiger. This phenomenon brings to mind what Cassius said in Shakespeare’s Othello, "O, I have lost my reputation!… and what remains is bestial."

Superstars have to make a choice when it comes to endorsements. They have to realize that companies have reasons for keeping them, and for getting rid of them. If celebrities want to do as they please, they cannot expect companies to put up with everything they do and keep on paying them. Eminem lives by his own rules, and companies never hire him for endorsements; but he doesn’t seem to care. Those who care about the exposure and money associated with endorsement deals must cultivate a good reputation, maintaining healthy, controversy-free public personas. Otherwise, we will keep seeing more and more stars disappearing from the ad campaigns in which we have become accustomed to seeing them.

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

You are a spokesperson for your company, representing it for public speaking and media interviews. You are going about your everyday affairs, granting media interviews on a new product or service your company launched or a timely topic of general interest. All is going well and a Hispanic media representative calls. What should you do?

Should you respond to the request as you do with other general market requests? If you are wondering about the reach and importance of Latino media and Latino audiences nationwide, note that Hispanic buying power is estimated at around $600 billion a year and increasing rapidly. At the risk of stereotyping, remember Latinos are loyal buyers, especially for high ticket items, spend more than mainstream and other minority market buyers on basic products and like to purchase the best they can afford.

Is there a significant Latino media presence? Yes! Familiarize yourself with major media outlets such as Univision, one the largest which includes TV, radio, cable and online coverage; Telemundo, the second largest TV network; El Nuevo Herald in Miami, the highest circulation Spanish language newspaper; and Terra.com, one of the Latino market web portals. A useful resource with detailed information on Hispanic media and Hispanic media training is Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations (Poyeen Publishing, $49.95).

Deciding whether to accept the media interview opportunity will depend on a number of factors including your goals, the type of product or service to be discussed during the interview, your media interviewing abilities and Spanish language proficiency (if the interview is in Spanish). Keep in mind that many Latinos are English dominant (their only or preferred language is English) and a number of Hispanic media are in English or bilingual. This means your interview could be in English. Should you prepare your interview responses as you do with general media interviews? What steps should you take to get ready for the interview?

As with any other media interview make sure to practice, prepare and rehearse; don’t “wing it.” The viewers can tell when you are prepared. Unprepared speakers often leave the audience with a disappointing impression. As part of your preparation, find out as much as you can about the media outlet and the audience of the interview.

To make the best impression consult a Hispanic market expert and/or a Latino media relations coach. He or she can help you position your product or service among Hispanics. Make sure you craft your message with the specific audience you are addressing in mind, review the information for the interview, and develop Hispanic relevant message points (a reminder of the key points you want to emphasize). Make sure your company is equipped and ready to respond to any Latino market responses resulting from the interview.

Following are links to some Hispanic media websites (in Spanish), to visit if you speak or read Spanish and want to learn more about Latino media:

http://www.univision.com/portal.jhtml
http://www.telemundo.com/index.html
http://www.terra.com/
http://www.miami.com/mld/elnuevo/

Elena del Valle is a 20-year marketing and communications veteran. She is editor and contributing author of Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations (Poyeen Publishing $49.95). Additional information is available at http://www.hispanicmpr.com/?page_id=25

THE NATURE OF MEDIA

Thirty years ago, Marshall McCluhan, the father of modern communications, wrote the immortal words, “The medium is the message.” Today I would amend that to, “The medium is the media.” Our civilization is utterly dominated by the force of media. After our own families, no influence holds greater sway in shaping the text of our being than do the media that cloak us like an electronic membrane.

We all think of ourselves as unique, unlike any person past or present. Indeed, what gives human life its divine spark is the distinct quality of every individual. Yet in many ways we are all the same. The task of market analysts, pollsters, and demographers is to identify those characteristics we share, and group us accordingly. If you are in your early forties, male, Caucasian, a father of two, earn $50,000 or more, and listen to a Top 40 radio station, there are total strangers out there who know an awful lot about you.

That’s because they understand a lot about your upbringing. They know you watched “The Mickey Mouse Club” in the fifties, “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” in the sixties, “Saturday Night Live” in the seventies, became environmentally conscious in the eighties, and were probably sorry ABC canceled “Thirtysomething” in the nineties. They’ve got your number because they understand the role the media have played in your life from the moment you Boomed as a Baby.

Today, in America, we tune in to over 9,000 commercial radio stations, 1,100 television stations, 11,000 periodicals, and over 11,000 newspapers with a combined circulation of nearly seventy million. These are the sources of our opinions on everything from nuclear disarmament to Madonna’s love life. Nobody likes to be told what to think, but all of us, every single day, are told precisely what to think about.

As Anthony Pratkanis and Elliot Aronson show in their insightful book, Age of Propaganda, the mass media are most effective in terms of persuading the public for two primary reasons. First, they teach new behavior and, second, they let us know that certain behaviors are legitimate and appropriate. So, if the media are encouraging certain buying patterns, fashion trends, modes of thinking, the unstated message we receive is “It’s okay for me to like that, do that, feel that.” In this way, our culture evolves, is accelerated, and disseminated.

Like the transcontinental railroad of the last century, the media link every city, gully, farmhouse, and mountaintop in North America. Regionalism is fading. The American accent is more uniform; our penchant for migration and blending in is like the smoothing out of a great national blanket. We are fast becoming one.

A common grammatical error occurs when people say “The media is” rather than “The media are” (“media” being the plural of medium”). Yet I sense people who say “the media is” are on to something. They perceive the many arms of the media-TV, newspapers, radio, etc.-as part of one monstrously monolithic creature. The media are “one” too.

Consider “Baby Jessica” McClure, for whom my firm donated public relations services. Jessica was the toddler from Midland, Texas, who fell down a narrow pipe in her backyard in 1987. For thirty-six hours, America was mesmerized by press coverage of her rescue. Acting as a concerned neighbor, the media conveyed Jessica’s light to the nation. The private agony of the McClure family became the anguish of all America.

Think of it: the temporary suffering of one “insignificant” little girl stopped the world’s most powerful country dead in its tracks. (Then, to canonize the experience, the TV movie version of Jessica’s story made it to the small screen within a year.)

Without those cameras there to catch it, and those TV stations to broadcast it, Baby Jessica’s ordeal would have made absolutely no impact on anyone other than her family and those who saved her. Because of the media, all of America for two days became part of Jessica’s family.

CONTRACTION AND EXPANSION

Journalists and talk-show hosts like to claim they’re in the information business or the news business. But you know and I know they’re in the money business just like everyone else. Because practically all media are privately held profit-making ventures, they behave much like any other enterprise, looking for ways to increase the bottom line.

To do that they must expand their consumer base, that is, their audience. They must give the customer what he or she wants. So if your local news station runs a few too many five-part specials on the illicit sex lives of nuns during “Sweeps Month,” remember they’re only trying to please the viewers.

Creating a successful product means citizens may not always get the information they need. A Harvard researcher found the average network sound byte from presidential campaigns dropped from 41.5 seconds per broadcast in 1968 to just under 10 seconds in 1988. That translates into roughly sixteen words a night with which to make up our minds on who should run the country. We absorb more information, yet understand less than ever before.

This is a logical consequence of big media. Their existence depends on keeping the audience tuned in. If TV station “A” covers candidate “B” droning on about farm subsidies, most of the audience will probably switch to station “C” running a story about the stray cat raised by an affectionate pig. Station “A” would be wise to ditch candidate “B” and send a crew out to film Porky and Tabby.

Along with this contraction of information is a parallel expansion of media. Because social scientists have us so precisely categorized, outlets targeted to specific groups flourish. Lear’s caters to mature, high-income women. Details appeals to middle-income, fast-tracker men. Essence aims for black women.

Peter Yarrow, of Peter, Paul, and Mary, tells a great story in his stage show to illustrate how narrowly focused we’ve become as a society. In the 1940s and 1950s we had the all-encompassing Life magazine. Then, we cropped our vision down to People magazine in the seventies (all of Life wasn’t good enough anymore). Things tightened up even more with Us. Now we have Self. Somewhere, there’s just gotta be a magazine just for you. I can just imagine it: on sale now, “Fred Morganstern Monthly.”

Not only do we see more media outlets, but the flow of information has likewise increased dramatically the past few years. Fax machines, cellular phones, modems, fiber-optic cables, Low Power TV, satellite down-links, all have reshaped the way we get our information, when we get it, and what we do with it.

During China’s “Goddess of Democracy” protests in 1989, the students kept in touch with the outside world via fax. Instantly, China seemed to leap forward from feudal empire to modern nation. Vietnam was the first “we’ll be right back after these messages” war. As napalm rained down on the jungle, we saw it live as it happened. We had no time to process information or analyze events as we were barraged by them. Because of improved communications, the Gulf War had the same effect, only with infinitely more drama.

The media may have accelerated the process of dissemination, but as we found out in the days of the first supersonic jets, breaking the sound barrier did not, as some scientists feared, cause planes to disintegrate. Likewise, instant news did not cause us to psychologically disintegrate.

There’s no way to assess what this means to society. To be carpet-bombed by information must have far-reaching consequences to our civilization, but that’s for future observers to sort out. Today, we face an intimidating media- driven culture. Anyone looking to succeed in business must first master the fundamentals of navigating the media. To reach customers, donors, or investors-to reach the public-one must rely on the media as the prime intermediary. The methodology to achieve this is known as Public Relations.

THE NATURE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can’t, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it.

– Robert Frost

I’m often asked whether public relations is a science or an art. That’s a valid question. In science, two plus two equals four. It will always equal four whether added by a Republican from Iowa, a shaman from New Guinea, or an alien from Planet X. However, in public relations, two plus two may equal four. It may equal five. It may equal zero today and fifty tomorrow.

Public relations is an art.

Like an art, there are rules of form, proven techniques, and standards of excellence. But, overall, it’s a mercurial enterprise, where instinct is as legitimate as convention.

Public relations was once defined as the ability to provide the answers before the public knows enough to ask the questions. Another P.R. pundit once stated, “We don’t persuade people. We simply offer them reasons to persuade themselves.” I define what I do as gift-wrapping. If you package a bracelet in a Tiffany box, it will have a higher perceived value than if presented in a K Mart box. Same bracelet, different perception.

PERCEPTION IS REALITY

Don Burr, former CEO of People Express Airlines, once said, “In the airline industry, if passengers see coffee stains on the food tray, they assume the engine maintenance isn’t done right.” That may seem irrational, but in this game, perception, not the objective truth, matters most.

How one comprehends given information is all-important in public relations. For decades, baby harp seals were bludgeoned to death by fur hunters, but until the public saw the cute little critters up close and personal and perceived the hunt as unacceptable, the problem didn’t exist. Before that, it was a matter of trappers preserving their hardy way of life. The seals ultimately hired the better publicist.

This also works in negative ways. The congressional check-bouncing scandal was a case in which individual congressmen’s visibility skyrocketed, while their credibility plummeted. The Tobacco Institute, a Washington-based lobbying and P.R. outfit, spends its time and money claiming cigarettes are okay. Nothing they do or say will ever make that true, but they may go a long way in changing public perception of their product. A few years ago they sponsored subliminally that no-smoking regulations infringe on our basic liberties. How’s that for a P.R. stretch?

Ultimately, the goal of any public relations campaign is to either reorient, or solidify, perception of a product, client, policy, or event. From there, nature takes its course. If the public perceives the product as good, the movie star as sexy, the pet rock as indispensable, then the public will fork over its money. As the brilliant business author Dr. Judith Bardwick explained, “To be perceived as visible increasingly means one is perceived as successful.”

Some may charge that stressing perception as reality is tantamount to sanctioning falsehood. I disagree. As the great historian Max Dimont argued, it didn’t matter if Moses really did have a chat with the Lord up on Mount Sinai or not. What matters is that the Jewish people believed it and carved their unique place in world civilizations because of it. Perception became reality.

Likewise, on a more mundane scale, one will succeed in a P.R. campaign only if the perception fostered truly resonates with the public. I do not believe people are easily duped. You may try everything in your bag of tricks to get the public to see things your way. You’ll pull it off only if the perception you seek to convey fits the reality of the public, the reality of the times. As Pretkanis and Eronson argue, credibility today is manufactured, and not earned.

P.R. OR PUBLICITY?

Often, the terms “public relations” and “publicity” are used interchangeably. They shouldn’t be. Publicity is only one manifestation of P.R.-specifically, achieving notoriety through accumulated press exposure. A publicist knows newspapers, magazines, and TV talk shows. Public Relations is much more than that. The Public Relations expert is as well versed in human nature as in editorial and sound bytes.

P.R. can be as macro as a campaign to persuade foreign governments so buy U.S. soybeans, or as micro as a warm handshake. The notion that P.R. is simply a matter of mailing press releases is nuttier than a squirrel’s breakfast. As producer, manager, and publicist Jay Bernstein says, “P.R. is getting a front table at the right restaurant, getting you invited to the right party, and getting into first class with a tourist ticket.”

A man who has greatly affected my thinking, the esteemed business author and lecturer Tom Peters, tells the story of a visit to a neighborhood convenience store. “American Express was being a little user-unfriendly,” Tom recalls, “and it took a good three minutes for my AMEX card to clear. When it finally did, the cashier bagged my purchase, and as I turned to go reached into a jar of two-cent foil-wrapped mints. He pulled one out, dropped it in my bag, and said, ‘The delay you experienced was inexcusable. I apologize and hope it doesn’t happen again. Come back soon.’ For two cents, he bought my loyalty for life.”

This story is about one small business owner and only one customer, but it’s a perfect example of good P.R. But what about bad P.R.? I doubt there’s anyone on the scene who has mastered that dubious craft better than sometime-billionaire Donald Trump. This is a man who has lost control of his own gilded ship. His lurid infidelities, his profligate spending, his precipitous fall from fortune, and, worst of all, his attempt to exploit the Mike Tyson rape tragedy to promote a prize fight, collectively paint a portrait of a thoroughly vulgar mind.

The Donald doesn’t care what you say about him, as long as you spell his name right. True, whenever he opens his mouth or makes a move, the press is all over him. But his massive celebrity has made him only a famous fool. You are not likely to achieve the degree of fame that Mr. Trump has, but, given his shameful image, I would congratulate you on that.

P.R. VS. MARKETING

With Guerrilla P.R. (and P.R. in general), you do not tell the public that your new digital fish cleaner is the greatest invention since the dawn of time. You could easily do that in an ad. Your goal is to lead people to draw that same conclusion for themselves. Otherwise, you’re engaging in good old-fashioned- or is it new-fashioned?-marketing strategy.

Companies often relegate public relations to their marketing departments. That might make sense from a corporate point of view, but there’s a distinct difference between P.R. and marketing. Going back to the “science vs. art” analogy, whereas P.R. is the art, marketing is the science.

Bob Serling, President of the Stratford Marketing Group, an L.A.-based marketing firm, has written, “Marketing is everything you do to make sure your customers find out about, and buy, your products and services.” That’s a tall order, and to go about filling it, marketing executives lug around a hefty bag of tricks.

To a large degree, they rely on surveys, demographic analyses and established sales and advertising procedures to accomplish their goals. But in Public Relations, intangibles play a far greater role. How do you measure a feeling? It’s not easy, but in P.R. we trade in the realm of feelings every day. We may use the media as the vehicle, but the landscape we traverse is contoured by human emotion.

Marketing often goes hand-in-hand with advertising. The undeniable advantage with advertising is that the advertiser retains full control. He knows exactly what his message will say and precisely when it will be seen. But remember this little fact of life: most top ad agencies consider a 1-2 percent response rate a triumph. That’s all it takes to make them happy. And, like it or not, most people don’t take ads as seriously as advertisers would like. Everybody knows they’re bought and paid for.

I prefer the odds with major media exposure. True, you do lose a large measure of control, and you never know for sure when or how your message will be conveyed. But the public is far likelier to accept what it gleans from the news media over what it sees in commercials. If Dan Rather says a new sports shoe is a daring innovation, people will give that more credence than if company spokesman Bo Jackson says it. The news, indeed the truth, is what Dan Rather says it is.

So who tells Dan Rather what’s news? The media like to boast they rely on ace newsgathering staffs; but in fact they depend a great deal on public relations people. That doesn’t mean the journalists of America are saps. They’re just looking for good stories. A hungry reporter and a smart publicist is a match made in heaven, and it’s been that way since the dawn of the Communication Age.

FROM THE GUERRILLA P.R. FILE

In Amarillo, Texas, you’ll find the Big Texan Steak Ranch, where the owner issues the following challenge:

If you can eat a seventy-two-ounce steak in an hour, you get it free. News of the deal traveled far and wide, even to the skies where I first read about it in an airline magazine.

GLORY DAYS: THE FOUNDING OF THE P.R. INDUSTRY

The public relations industry flourished with the growth of twentieth-century mass media, although sensitivity to public opinion on the part of public figures is nothing new. Even Abraham Lincoln got into the act, declaring once, “What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.” The fathers of modern P.R. knew the value of simple images to convey powerful messages.

Edward Bernays, founder of modern P.R., defined his mission as the engineering of consent. He was a nephew of Sigmund Freud, and he strikes me as having been just as perceptive about human nature as his esteemed uncle. Bernays displayed a genius for concocting indelible images, something good P.R. campaigns require. In one early triumph, he arranged for young debutantes to smoke Lucky Strikes while strolling in New York’s 1929 Easter Parade. What Bernays sold to the press as a bold political statement on women’s rights was no more than a gimmick to sell cigarettes.

Pioneers like publicist/film producer A.C. Lyles set the pace for generations of publicists to follow. Another innovator, Ivy Hill, is often credited with inventing the press release. Hill believed telling the “truth” in journalistic fashion would help shape public opinion. He sensed editors would not dismiss press releases as ads, but rather would perceive their real news value. He was right.

The publicist’s ability to appeal to newspapers proved invaluable to captains of industry seeking to shore up their images. Back in the 1920s, Hill masterminded industrialist John D. Rockefeller’s much-ridiculed habit of handing out dimes to every child he met. Ridiculous but effective in its time. (Imagine T.Boone Pickens trying that today.)

Occasionally, clients got less than they bargained for. In the late 1950s, the Ford Motor Company hired P.R. trail-blazer Ben Sonnenberg to help overcome the negative fallout from the Edsel fiasco. He charged Ford $50,000 for a foolproof P.R. plan, and after three days submitted it in person. Sonnenberg looked the breathless executives in the eye and intoned, “Do nothing.” With that, the dapper publicist pocketed his check and walked out, much to the slack-jawed shock of the Ford brain trust.

Even nations sometimes need help. During the 1970s, Argentina developed a little P.R. problem when its government kidnapped and murdered thousands of its own citizens. Buenos Aires hired the high-powered U.S. firm of Burson- Marsteller to tidy things up. For a cool $1,000,000, the firm launched an extensive campaign involving opinion-makers from around the world: a stream of press releases stressed, among other things, the Argentine regime’s record in fighting terrorism. Sometimes the truth can be stretched until it tears itself in half.

I don’t wish to give the impression that P.R. is strictly a polite version of lying. That’s not the case. As I said, P.R. is gift-wrapping. Whether delivered in fancy or plain paper, truth is truth, and the public ultimately comprehends it. The trick is packaging the truth on your own terms.

How often have you read about a big movie star storming off the set of a film because of “creative differences” with the director? We all know the two egomaniacs probably hated each other’s guts. But if the papers printed that, we’d perceive the situation very differently. By our soft-pedaling the row with words like “creative differences,” the movie star’s reputation remains intact, even though intuition tells us he’s “difficult.”

MORE THAN ONE PUBLIC

Thus far, when referring to the public, I’ve generalized to mean the population at large: We the People. The sophisticated modern art of P.R. encompasses many more “publics” than that. In fact, selective targeting is a primary tactic in sound P.R. strategies. As you will see, bigger is not always better.

Depending on the goals, a publicist could target any one of various business, consumer, or governmental communities. An investor seeking financial backing aims for the financial press and relevant trade publications. A rock musician zeroes in on the local music rags. A lobbyist might need nothing more than a friendly article in the Washington Post, a retailer only the residents of his immediate neighborhood.

Though I’ve found a few clients easily dazzled by quantity, in P.R. quality is what really counts. A seven-inch stack of press clippings means nothing unless the objectives of the campaign have been met. The scrapbook makes a great Mother’s Day gift, but I’d rather see my clients’ careers advanced in the right direction.

Figuring out which public to reach is one of the most critical decisions a publicist makes. My orientation-and, I hope, yours-is geared toward the most significant audience vis-à-vis your objectives, which is not necessarily the widest. You may want to target the people you buy from, the people you hope to sell to, the people you work for, the people that work for you, and so on. It’s a big world full of little worlds when you look closely.

In most cases I spell out precisely who and what I’m going after, and then proceed aggressively. Don’t go for the moon all at once. Set a goal, achieve it, then build on that base. Any good planner knows the advantages of thinking three steps ahead while proceeding one step at a time.

FROM THE GUERRILLA P.R. FILE

The history-making August 1991 revolution in the former Soviet Union began when then-president Mikhail Gorbachev left Moscow for a vacation on the Crimean Sea. Because the whole affair had a happy ending, everybody laughed when, only a few days later, the president of an outdoor billboard company in Detroit ran a series of large ads all over town reading: “Welcome Back, Gorby! Next Time Vacation in Michigan.”

MICHAEL LEVINE’S TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR DEALING WITH MEDIA

Never be boring. Never!

Know your subject thoroughly.

Know the media you contact. Read the paper, watch the newscast.

Cover you bases.

Don’t just take “yes” for an answer. Follow up, follow through.

Never feel satisfied.

Always maintain your composure.

Think several moves ahead.

Be persistent, but move on when you’re convinced you’re getting nowhere.

Remember, this isn’t brain surgery. Don’t take yourself too seriously (like too many publicists I know). Have fun.

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

Why You Should Write Press Releases:
A press release is another way of saying news release or an announcement. It’s an easy and affordable way to get your message out to the public. It allows you to announce new products, services or improvements your company has made.

Other common reasons for writing press releases includes, but not limited to, generating more revenues, obtaining new customers and branding your business. Every business strive to make their company’s name a household name, and submitting press releases is a great way to do so.

With the emergence of the internet businesses now have an easy way to submit their press releases to thousands of journalists and news papers world-wide, with the click of a mouse. Press release distribution services are becoming increasingly popular for both web-based and real-world based businesses.

How to Effectively Write a Press Release:
As I stated earlier, a press release is simply another name for “news” release. The first thing you must consider is weather you have “news” worthy information to announce. Journalists and editors are seeking interesting news that people want to know about.

Good press releases will generally answer who, what, where, when & why. A press release is often written in third person, and generally includes quotes form a company representative or customers where applicable. If a news editor thinks your submission is newsworthy, he or she will publish your release. However, if you fail to provide any essential information or your submission is not newsworthy, an editor will quickly move your news release to the bottom of the pile.

Editors and Journalists receives plenty of news releases each day. The easier you make it for them, the easier it becomes for your news release to be published. Think of it as “Your helping them” to “help you.”

Formatting Your Press Release
A press release will include the Headline, Summary, and Body. For example, lets say you own a greenhouse business and you recently acquired hydroponics equipment to grow vegetables and herbs. You also will grow plants using organic nutrients or fertilizers. Below is an example press release for a business of this nature. You may follow the structure of the example, but written in your own words to reflect your business.

Headline:
A concise, catchy, understandable line of text to show what the news release is about.

- Farm Grows Organic Vegetables & Herbs Using Hydroponics.

Summary:
A concise body of text, generally a few sentences long, summarizing what the press release is about.

NY, New York – August 1st 2005 – Hydroponics is an advanced plant cultivation technique that grows plants bigger, healthier, and quicker than traditional soil applications because the plants will have constant access to required nutrients. Acme Inc. Co., will begin to produce their crops using this advanced cultivation technique along with organic fertilizer to grow high-quality, healthy produce.

Body:
The body is a continuation of the summary portion of the press release. This is where you give in-depth details regarding your announcement.

Acme Inc’s VP, John Doe said “While it’s more difficult to grow crops using hydroponics, the technique allows plants to grow more vigorously, healthy and reach peak-maturity quicker than with traditional soil application. We also save money on fertilizer and water because hydroponics recycles the nutrient solution. This will allow us to pass that savings on to our customers as well as provide them with fresh, tasty vegetables and herbs.”

Hydroponics is an indoor cultivation technique. Acme Inc. plans on building three large-scale commercial greenhouse to produce vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, cilantro and basil. “To ensure a successful harvest, Acme Inc. will use computers to monitor the grow-room’s temperature and the nutrient solution pH and E.C levels – All of which needs to be controlled precisely, to avoid complications to the plants’ overall health and development.” Said Mr. Doe.

Construction of the three greenhouses will begin December 1, 2005. Acme Inc. hopes to have the construction completed within one year to start providing organically grown crops to high-end restaurants, health-food stores and produce markets.

For more information visit Acme Inc. Co., web site at http://acme-whatever.com, by email at acme@acme-whatever.com or call 1-800-555-5555.

Article Courtesy of HydroponicSearch.com - Agriculture Press Release Distribution Service

Excerpted from "Selling Goodness- The Guerrilla PR Guide To Promoting Your Charity, Nonprofit Organization, Or Fund Raising Event"

Whether you are making a pitch over the phone or in person, whether to a newspaper or magazine journalist or a reporter or producer in the electronic media, there are fundamental rules to follow. To some extent, they coincide with universal rules that apply to all human relations-courtesy, honesty, respect, integrity-but some of them are relatively unique to media relations, such as the advantage of having a topic that grabs by the collar and won’t let go.

Here are my ten commandments for pitching the media:

1) Underlying everything should be the five F’s: You must be fast, fair, factual, frank, and friendly. These words spell credibility, a currency worth its weight in platinum.

2) Never be boring. Never.

3) Know the media you contact. Watch, listen, read.

4) Know your subject thouroughly.

5) Don’t just take yes for an answer. Follow up. Follow through.

6) Always keep your temper in check and your composure cool.

7) Don’t be intimidated in designing your pitch. You have to make the first move, or no move will be made. The media won’t come to you.

8) Turn any nervousness to your advantage by emphasizing your genuineness, the fact that you aren’t a slick, insincere salesperson.

9) Make yourself understood. Do not use jargon and technical language. You won’t be making yourself seem less intelligent by doing so. Quite the contrary. Some of the most brilliant people I know speak with disarming simplicity.

10) Be prepared for a dialog once you’ve made your pitch. A simple "yes" or "no" is less likely than getting a series of follow-up questions from the journalist. This is an opportunity for you to expand on your case and build rapport with the person you’re pitching to.

And the eleventh commandment: Keep a healthy, reasonable perspective. This isn’t nuclear weaponry negotiation. Keep cool and have fun.

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