Careers. Twitter. Public Relations Account Executive at Oxford Communications in Lambertville, N.J., straddling both the Philadelphia and NYC marketplaces. The Anatomy of a Great PR Email Pitch - My Name is Kate. Like a lot of bloggers, I get a lot of pitch emails. Most of them suck. But the "Delete" key and I are best friends, so I don't spend a LOT of time ranting about why they suck, making flack blacklists or bitching about them (though I will admit to the occasional tweet about some of the more egregious emails).
But sometimes, riding a ray of sunlight, a pitch hits my inbox and I stand up and shout "Yes! YES! A pitch I was actually happy to get. " The subject line is short and descriptive. The only thing I would have changed about Dan's email is I would have stuck an " in front of the URL so I could immediately click and not have to copy/paste URL. So there you have it. Oh, and what about that thing Dan was pitching: Proformative, a hot up-and-coming online community site built exclusively for corporate finance, accounting and treasury professionals? So, if you ARE that kind of professional, check out Proformative - my Pitch of the Week.
Is your work email synced to your phone? « Lauren Novo's PR Journey. Itâs Just A Phone « PR Geek Speak. The Next Business Pitch: Make it Memorable. It started off as most things do, with a casual discussion about technology on a Friday afternoon in the office of a SVP of a NYC PR agency. The topic of discussion – iPads. After a bit of discussion, we wandered off on a tangent. “You know one if these days a restaurant is going to start using iPads as menus,” I predicted.
I was, perhaps expectedly, mocked by some others in the room who pointed out the low cost of printing, learning curve issues with the iPad, potential (and ease) of breakage, along with other issues that would prevent adoption. They were right on the specific objections, but I still had faith in using this technology as part of a successful sales (and marketing) strategy.
Then, lo and behold, a few short weeks later The New York Times runs a story about an Atlanta steakhouse that has taken their extensive wine list (over 1300 labels) and loaded it onto iPads. But how can we bring this lesson into our B2B world? Some of you know where I’m going with this. Public Relations Hiring Growth, at Agencies and in-House - Finance and Accounting Jobs News and Advice. Public relations, often downplayed and misunderstood by the rest of the marketing community, has become a central part of most marketing plans. The sector is diverse, offering opportunities to connect the business with the public. It is also difficult work, with outreaches often leading to dead ends and strategies not panning out. But best of all, it's hiring. Rising revenues and companies' growing realization of the importance of having a public relations team, whether retained or in-house, are helping that growth along.
Demand Growth According to a survey by the Council of Public Relations Firms (CPRF), 65% of firms interviewed experienced higher revenues in the first quarter of this year compared to last year. There is a general feeling of optimism among businesses, leading them to hire more PR professionals, either in-house or through agencies. At Ogilvy PR, there is a general feeling that business is going to pick up. Agency Jobs Corporate Jobs Write to Shareen Pathak. Networking Events - Get over the butterflies.
I joined the Networking Committee of the Silicon Valley chapter of the Public Relations Society of America because it made me nervous. I may go to a number of events now, but that hadn't always been the case. When I knew it was time for me to spread my wings and transition to a new job, everyone I spoke to, and every article I read, said that networking events were the best way to meet people and find out about new opportunities early. But "putting myself out there" terrified me. It felt like high school all over again, with cliques of the "cool people" already huddled in a corner deep in conversation. 2. 4.
Skeptical of my methods? Business News & Real Estate News Across New Jersey. Dexter’s Killer PR Lessons « PR Geek Speak. To Acquire TechCrunch Network Of Sites. Leading Authority on Tech News Will Expand AOL's Growing Offering of World-Class, Audience-Relevant Content San Francisco, CA, September 28, 2010 – AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) today announced that it has agreed to acquire TechCrunch, Inc., the company that owns and operates TechCrunch and its network of websites dedicated to technology news, information and analysis. TechCrunch and its associated properties and conferences will join the AOL Technology Network while retaining their editorial independence, further bolstering AOL's position as one of the world's leading providers of high-quality, tech-oriented content. The announcement will be made on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, CA. Founded by Michael Arrington, TechCrunch operates a global network of dedicated properties from Europe to Japan, as well as vertically-oriented websites, including MobileCrunch, CrunchGear, TechCrunchIT, GreenTech, TechCrunchTV and CrunchBase.
About AOL AOL Inc. From Bollywood to Boston – One Globe Trotter’s Adventures in PR. From Bollywood to Boston – One Globe Trotter’s Adventures in PR By Puneet Sandhu (@puneet86) At the beginning of 2008, I was on the other side of the world, pretty content with my life at home in Delhi, India. By fall, I was on a plane that would get me to Boston—my first international flight, and one that would kick off my new life here in the United States. And it all revolved around one thing: public relations.
A large part of my experience with PR in India involved growing up under a father who practiced it—and got it right. But when I started doing internships, I saw that, for the most part, the Indian PR industry was years behind U.S. But that wasn’t the only thing that was different about PR in India. There is NO “Cision.” These are just some of the differences that I have come across in my time here, at school and at work. Someday, I’ll make it back home. And, because I can’t author a post on India without it, here is one of my favorite Bollywood videos, for your enjoyment!
Steve Jobs In Email Pissing Match with College Journalism Student. SeyferthPR juggling ArtPrize, policy forum and maggots at a McDonald's. Enjoying a cup of specialty coffee on the way to work this morning? That’s nice. Read on. Apparently specialty coffee machines can become infested with maggots. Well, at least we know of one that was. And it fell to Grand Rapids-based SeyferthPR to handle the "crisis communications," once the situation became public in a column by John Schneider of the Lansing State Journal.
Schneider received an email from an employee of a McDonald's franchise in Bath Township, north of East Lansing, who noticed an "ungodly" smell wafting from the kitchen's specialty coffee machine. It was discovered that the machine was infested by maggots, which had caused it to function improperly and, also: gross. The employee explained that after it was cleaned out, maggots continued to grow, and when a regional manager was contacted about it, employees were instructed to leave the machine on. "Rest assured, absolutely nothing is more important to me than operating safe, clean restaurants. If Your Executives Pitched The Media -- By Alex Goldfayn, The Technology Tailor. This piece is another installment in my September PR Master Class series .
Building on yesterday’s post on having your executives pitch the media instead of 20-something PR kids … If your executives pitched the media: The media would be impressed. The media would be relieved. The media would be grateful. The pitch would be more meaningful. Because of who your executives are, they would be building relationships and trust with the media instead of blasting them with press releases. Your company would get better quality coverage. Your company would get more frequent coverage. As such awareness would grow. Sales would grow. So would profits, because this coverage essentially costs nothing. It would actually take far less of your executives’ time ( five minutes per day ) than it takes your PR youth.
Your company would be unique and memorable. The upside is endless. What’s stopping you? About Alex Goldfayn. Careers. PR Geek Speak. Inside the SHIFT studio: Melanie Collins. Lifestyle / Entertainment Media Updates. Anatomy of a Great PR Pitch. When I woke up this morning the following pitch was waiting for me in my email… Hi Geoff – I hope all is well. I’m a fan of your writing and share the same area of focus. I started Pinkdingo.com, which we launched in Beta form in March and are now overhauling with a very specific focus that will differentiate us (and our value-add for charities) quite substantially in a pretty crowded field (online fundraising). Also, it looks like we have the same taste in motorcycles (see below)…. Anyway, I’d love to chat with you sometime soon about what we’re up to and planning, and online giving in general, if you’re game to do so. I am particularly interested because of this point from your post yesterday: “It’s time for the popularity-based charity craze to evolve into a much more productive form of crowdsourcing that can better benefit society sans social network spam.”
Let me know, thanks! Scott Arneill Why I Loved This Pitch Let me just state I almost never ever follow-up on cold pitches via email. Give in to Peer Pressure « PR Geek Speak. PR Geek Speak. Industry Debate: The Value of Community Managers. As the role of communications and public relations professionals continues to evolve, PRBC bloggers Keith Trivitt and Danny Brown examine an offshoot of the profession, the community manager. Used by many websites, message boards and blogs to manage online engagement, relations and communications with key audiences, the role of a community manager is one cloaked with some confusion, particularly on the executive level.
We welcome your thoughts on the evolving role of community managers in the comments below. Should community managers be forward-facing managers of a company’s online customer service, or should their roles evolve into more of a strategic position? In other words, are community managers anything more than glorified customer service reps? DB: To me, customer service is strategic positioning (or has the capacity to be as much). Your main point of contact with any business during the lifetime of any relationship is via customer service. DB: It depends. KT: Great point re: BP. Interview with a PR Pro: Deirdre Breakenridge, Part I « The Communications Blog. Written by Mandy Boyle, graduate student and freshly-minted communications professional If you’ve read the Young Professionals Guide to Internship Interviews, congrats! You’re well on your way to being prepared for that first foray into the communications industry – but let’s take things a step further.
I recently had the opportunity to get some insight from one of the best communicators in the biz and I can’t wait to share her interview. Deirdre Breakenridge is the author of Putting the Public Back in Public Relations and PR 2.0 New Media, New Tools, New Audiences. She is the President of Mango! When I asked Deirdre to give some insight into how interns can make the right impressions during interviews, I was amazed at all of the great tips she gave and simply had to share. First off, it’s fabulous that you donate so much of your time toward educating young PR professionals. Yes, giving back to a profession, which has given so much to us, is imperative to the growth of our industry. 1. 2. Double Trouble for Dunkin’ Donuts. By Mikinzie Stuart (@mikinzie) If any of you “Like” Dunkin’ Donuts on Facebook, you might have noticed something less than palatable appear on your news feed recently.
This is because Dunkin’ Donuts was spammed on their Facebook page earlier this week with provocative links and images (seeing as these images are NSFW, we will just say they involve young women and the phrase “scantily clad”). Hmm... something's missing. Contrary to what you may think, the real crime wasn’t the spam itself; it was the fact that it took Dunkin’ Donuts 12 HOURS to acknowledge the spamming to their Facebook community. Even after the initial wave of images was finally removed, naughty photos and links kept showing up, flooding the company’s Facebook page throughout the following day. Fellow SHIFT colleague, John Carter, noticed one of the racy spam videos pop up on his Facebook news feed and brazenly “liked” the spicy video. “Thanks for your concern. So, what can be learned from DD’s double-down? Like this: Direct response copywriters need to learn the art of revising copy.
Five Ways to Make Your Resume Stand Out (PR Edition) By Kiersten Kaye (@klkaye) I know it’s cliché, but if I had a dollar for every time someone told me “I hate recruiters” or “Looking for a job is SO hard,” I’d be a very rich woman. The fact of the matter is, most people find the hiring process to be frustrating because of a lack of reciprocation. First you apply to a job online and then you receive a generic email that says “Thank you for your interest in X company. We have received your resume. If your experience matches one of our open roles…” – and then it’s crickets. So, what can you do to make your resume stand out and increase your odds of receiving the elusive call (or email) back? Here are the top five ways to make your resume stand out when applying to a PR agency #1 “I have agency experience” Recruiters and hiring managers automatically scan your resume and look for PR agency names. . #2 “I worked with clients X, Y and Z” The next thing PR folks want to know is what kind of PR experience you have.
. #3 “I am a media maven” Like this: Help Call Out Bad PR at SXSW. Team Building: It Takes More than Just Trust Falls. Team Building: It Takes More than Just Trust Falls By Matt Trocchio (@trochman) Agency life has many factors to it: multiple clients, multiple deadlines and multiple personalities working together. If a team isn’t built properly the latter can be a detriment to all the others. Well, how do you help strengthen the team without reducing yourself to old school methods? At SHIFT Boston, we have been fortunate enough to participate in many activities that have helped with this.
Although our regular season record of 1 win, 11 losses may not showcase it, the season has been a real winner. How does this sort of activity help an Agency? Build Trust – Any team sport will ultimately come down to trust. Now what do you do if you’re in a large company that can’t all play on the same team? I’ve had the pleasure of being Captain of our team for the last three years, and although the record may fluctuate, the outcome is always the same – everyone has fun and grows closer. Like this: Like Loading... Project UPDATE. New Site Aims to Connect Reporters and Publicists.
The Most Overused Buzzwords and Marketing Speak in Press Releases. Unique, one-of-a-kind, best-of-breed…blah, blah, blah. We see this type of marketing speak over and over in press releases and promotional materials. And let’s be honest, we’ve all used it at one time or another — shame on us. But which buzzwords are the most overused? I saw an item in PR Daily recently using the MoMA press release archive to demonstrate how press releases were much better years ago. That got me curious about which terms are currently being most abused. So I searched PRWeb’s press release archive for a selection of overused terms, buzzwords and marketing speak using a “site:prweb.com” search on Google, for example: I opted for Google over PRWeb’s internal search because internal search results are not typically very good.
To come up with the list of buzzwords I started with the usual suspects then got some more ideas from Wikipedia and TechCrunch. I was glad to see “revolutionary” with less than 5,000 mentions. Which terms do you think are the biggest offenders? 9 in 10 agencies have had clients steal ideas from pitches.
FPRA SWFL Chapter Blog: PR is not Dead! The evolving nature of today's agency blog | Communications Conv. Poll: 85% Won't Create A Custom PR Plan For Prospective Clients. How-To Price Freelance Projects Successfully. Poll: 85% Won't Create A Custom PR Plan For Prospective Clients. How to Succeed in the Age of Going Solo.
Intern fired in TechCrunch brouhaha - InternetNews:The Blog - Da. Kelly Cutrone Gives New Meaning to the Word ‘Hooker’ -- The Cut. PR at Sunrise. PRepguide. HAPPO, Meet Larry Jones. Edelman: PR Agency of the Year '09. Adobe Blogger Challenges Apple's 'Great Man' -- InformationWeek. How HAPPO Helped Public Relations Professionals. PRunners. Can PR Tell the Difference Between Write and Wrong? « The PRepgu. Would You Beat the Buzzer? « PRismatic Perspectives. I Will Honor The Embargo. PRepster Lauren Novo on Key Messages. HMC Video. #ChatMixer. The First #PRStudChat Tweetup. GUEST POST: Not Just a Day with Deirdre.
Alltop - Top PR News. Apple cancels iPad meetings with journalists. Mikinzie Stuart. “Writing is still important” or “Writing is like hygiene” « PR C. Dude where’s my confidence? Hot women stress out men: study | Na. Twitter Tools for Communications Pros by SHIFT Communications (@ Why Science Needs to Step Up Its PR Game | Magazine. NBC Combines Marketing, Promo and PR Departments - mediabistro.c.