I often talk to people who know they need publicity and want professional help to get it but find hiring PR agencies to be a confusing and daunting task. That’s understandable. Public relations firms differ in a thousand ways, it seems. For one, they use different business models – some charge monthly retainer fees while […]
2020 has been a challenging year in so many ways for nearly everyone – and pitching the media in the middle of a pandemic is no exception. COVID-19 dominated so much of the news cycle that, seemingly for months, any pitch that didn’t include a coronavirus angle ended up in some reporter, editor or producer’s […]
The first half of 2020 has provided us with some unusual times. For months, a handful of extraordinary events have dominated the news cycle. The COVID-19 pandemic has been the major culprit, but more recently protests across the nation took center stage. So, when two of our News & Experts team members – Miguel Casellas-Gil […]
In my last two PR Insiders, I shared with you tips for getting media opportunities – without being opportunistic – during the COVID-19 crisis, as well as tips for how to handle media interviews once you land them. This week, let’s look at the next step. At some point this challenging situation we are all […]
In the last PR Insider, I shared with you some tips for reaching out to the media during the coronavirus crisis; tips that I had also discussed in a webinar I participated in titled “Authority Marketing in a COVID-19 World.” That webinar was inspired, of course, by the many ways in which the coronavirus has […]
It’s finally happened! You’ve been working on your publicity efforts, trying to land a radio or TV interview, and now the show is scheduled. Since this is what you wanted, why are you starting to nervously ask yourself: What have I done? Jitters! Stage fright! Call it what you will, it’s perfectly normal to get […]
With movies such as “Logan,” “Alien: Covenant” and many others being filmed in 3-D these days, I started thinking about how a good PR campaign also has its own 3-D elements. Although since there are four types of media outlets – TV, radio, social media and print (offline and online) – what you really need […]
Let’s face it, grabbing the attention of the national media can be exciting, a marketing coup that gives your brand coast-to-coast publicity in front of a wide and diverse audience. Believe me, as a public relations professional I understand as well as anyone the allure of such attention and why it is so enticing to […]
Days after My PR Insider About the Popular Talk Show, Ellen Plugs Our Client! I don’t believe in coincidence; everything happens for a reason. I got a reminder of that recently thanks to a wonderful, and somewhat eerie, experience here at the office. The story I’m about to share is a great illustration of how […]
I often emphasize the need for a multi-media approach to public relations: getting your message out on at least a couple of the traditional media (radio, print, TV) that your target audience is using while also building your social media marketing. But people sometimes tell me, “I just don’t have time for lots of radio […]
Article at a glance: Even the pros occasionally stumble on live TV If it happens to you, smile and keep talking. Be conscious of your body movements. It’s bad enough when you stick your foot in your mouth at a dinner party or walk out of the office bathroom with the back of your dress […]
Let’s face it – we think TV, we think celebrity. It’s exciting. Ever spot the anchor from your local TV newscast dining in the same restaurant as you? Did you grab your companion’s arm, point, and say, sotto voce, “Look!” (Yes, I’m guilty, too.) […]
Just last week, I showed you an interview I did with Lisa Hess, our TV campaign manager, about a typical day in her life here at EMSI. In it, we learned a lot of the different things she does in order to get our clients booked. Although I can always count on Lisa to arrange good TV bookings each week, last week she outdid herself with 4 national TV appearances and 5 local TV appearances on network affiliate stations. So I thought it might be helpful as a follow-up to share with you how she got these bookings. […]
Finally, when you get on TV, don’t sell. Educate. People fast-forward through commercials because they hate being sold all the time. If you try to sell in your segment, they’ll fast-forward through you, too. If you educate and provide the viewers with information that can help them in their lives, they’ll be far more inclined to buy what you’re selling. […]
The Nielsen Company tracks the audience viewership of TV programs so that programmers and advertisers can get a handle on how many people are watching certain shows. Programmers take that data and figure out how much they’ll charge to advertise on their shows. Of course, they pay attention to key demographics and more granular statistics, but at the end of the day, this is the data that helps them figure out that they’re going to charge $3 million per minute to advertise on The Super Bowl broadcast and $1 – $3.80 per minute on reruns of the recent reboot of Hawaii Five-0. […]
For decades, police detective shows have dominated the airwaves. From Dragnet to Hill Street Blues to CSI, people can’t seem to get enough of the good-guys-catching-bad-guys formula. But a long time ago, a veteran police detective told me that most of those shows have no relation to reality. In fact, he said the most realistic TV police show that was ever aired was the long-running sitcom Barney Miller. With a dose of humor and very little drama, that show depicted what really goes on behind the scenes in the police world. […]
His point was that most parents believe that they are doing all they can to make ends meet and be responsible parents. Given that idea, most of them probably wouldn’t take kindly to the idea that they need to take better care of their kids, because they already think they are. So, it might be more understanding to say that while she understands many parents are so busy getting through the basics of providing for their kids, it’s understandable how this particular area could be overlooked, so here’s some advice on how to address cyberbulling and sexting to help them out. […]
It’s not unusual for a producer to be interested in your pitch, but want the interview to be done at a location that illustrates what the story is about. TV, after all, is a visual medium.
A great example that comes to mind is a client who is an expert on how to deal with foreclosure – a timely topic, unfortunately. He was traveling around the country to cities experiencing high percentages of foreclosures and in each city we obtained media coverage for him. But in Phoenix, Arizona, the producer didn’t want just a “talking head” interview. She agreed to do the interview only if it could be at a foreclosure property. And of course it was up to us to locate a suitable site, get permission to shoot the interview there, and ensure the TV crew had access when they arrived. After many, many phone calls to pull all of this together, the location was finalized, permission was obtained and the client’s TV interview was confirmed. In fact, it turned out to be one of the client’s best interviews. […]