What is news?
Why do we visit news web sites or buy newspapers? To find out what interesting things are happening. We want to find out about what affects us directly as well as being curious about things around the world that may not affect us at all. It’s important to think about ...
Make sure your press release tells real news
Journalists want news. Do you have news to tell or are you just trying to sell? Editorials are not the same as adverts. Editorial usually aims to be impartial and not overtly promote a product or service. It can describe and sometimes review, but on the whole does not sell. If your ...
What action do you want readers of your press release to take?
You’ve got some exciting news to tell, but what do you want readers to do after they’ve read it? You could have won an award, so perhaps you want people to know that you are the best in your class. Maybe your business is going to be present at an ...
Every PR action must have an objective
Have you ever been in a meeting where someone says “we must do a press release”? Why? What’s the point? We must know what we want to achieve before we start researching, interviewing, writing and distributing a press release. Planning should identify business objectives. Focus your PR campaign and press releases ...
Preparing for a telephone interview on live radio
This morning I got a call from BBC Radio Five Live asking if I would take part in a live discussion about courtesy on national radio. As I am a volunteer on the executive of the National Campaign for Courtesy, I said yes. The campaign achieves a high profile by taking ...
Create a PR calendar
What events are important in your sector? Is it Christmas or the summer? Are there industry events such as exhibitions? Map out events for the next year and build them into your PR schedule so that you don’t miss any opportunities. Remember that publications such as monthly magazines will set their deadlines ...
