KEYWORD ANALYSIS BY CARRIE MORGAN

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Public Relations

The Often-Overlooked PR Gold Mine: Online Public Speaking

Overlooked PR Goldmine: Speaking, Podcasts and WebinarsIt’s easy to fall into the habit of looking for the more traditional PR placements – press release pick-ups, bylines, guest blog posts… But public relations opportunities aren’t limited to editorial.

What better way to build visibility and relationships with a specific target audience than landing speaking opportunities? It builds credibility and influence, plus it’s fantastic for generating leads. In fact, some use it as their primary lead generation tool or a valued revenue stream, and the PR agency or employee that can generate active leads is an extremely valuable part of the team. (This impacts client retention or job security nicely – whoot!).

There’s a gold mine of opportunities waiting for you. If you haven’t added them to your overall strategy, now’s the perfect time to take a closer look, and be proactive bringing up this tactic before it’s requested.

[Tweet “Webinars, chats and podcasts are amazing sources of #PR visibility – seek them out!”]

For agencies, the research can also be a nice way to upsell an extra project fee that is worth every single penny to their client, or a value-add to wrap into an existing retainer as time allows. And for in-house PR pros, it can be a project that has a major pay-off in bringing you to the attention of company leadership.

Most people who handle traditional public relations think of speaking opportunities – but they overlook the ONLINE SPEAKING opportunities: webinars, podcasts, Twitter chats and Google hangouts. They are all viable speaking opportunities and essential ways to build visibility online. They also give significant credibility to the speaker and build their reputation as a sought-after expert in their industry, in exactly the same way speaking does but with a potentially larger audience.

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Blogger Pitch Smackdown: SEO Linkbuilders vs. PR Pros

The Differences in Pitch Style & Purpose Are Helpful to Understand

SEO Linkbuilding Pitches vs. PR PitchesI love PR, I love SEO and I really love how well they intersect to grow client reach and conversion.

So when pitch samples hit my desk for my bad pitch column, Rock The Pitch, or I get pitched myself as a blogger, I know instantly where it’s coming from: a PR professional, a business owner/entrepreneur or someone trying to get an SEO backlink.

How that pitch is written can be VERY revealing. Motives are similar – a chance to publish a guest post or article – but many tend to follow an all-too-common, copy and paste template that reveals their true purpose behind the pitch.

[Tweet “Sadly, it’s rare to get a pitch that is specific, interesting and relevant.”]

I believe this is less about PR pros and more about WHO ELSE sends pitches. It’s not a practice exclusive to public relations specialists like it used to be.

Why do I write about backlink pitches in a PR blog? Because journalists complain about the quality of a pitch and attribute it to lazy PR pros when it isn’t actually coming from a PR professional (not that we don’t screw up, too), and PR pros scorn pitches on their client blogs mentioning money or compensation.

Both criticize or laugh about how bad the pitch is, without realizing where it’s coming from or the motivator behind it.

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Is The Name of Your Business Costing You A Fortune In Wasted PR & Marketing?

Firing-clientsNew client relationships usually start off all rosy and pink-cheeked, like a new bride walking down the isle, full of joy and excitement about what lies ahead once she slips that ring on her finger.

Then, like a couple married in Vegas by an Elvis wanna-be, sometimes the ink isn’t even dry on the certificate before those emotions turn into something darker.

I fired a brand new client last night. Like most relationships that turn sour, the problem was rooted in communication issues. He either didn’t listen to what I was saying, didn’t believe it, or didn’t understand it – but failed to tell me any of those things and I didn’t notice it was happening.

DO A SITUATION AUTOPSY. Some client relationships are bound to go sour – it’s inevitable. Was it the client? The agency? Both? Was someone at fault and could it have been prevented?

Thinking through and understanding exactly what happened can give you the street-smarts to prevent it from happening again.

So what happened? He hired me to handle his online digital presence, starting with organic SEO for his website to boost visibility and website traffic.

It was a very small budget for what he wanted to accomplish, and my minimum retainer size, but enough to accommodate some very solid results, if given a little time. We had a good positive status meeting just that morning, but he called me later in the day practically foaming at the mouth. Someone searched for his business name on Google, and told him they couldn’t find him.

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PR Pro Showcase: Gini Dietrich, Chicago

PR Pro Showcase: Gini DietrichTime to showcase one of my favorite people in PR – and someone I’m very grateful to count among friends I can turn to for venting and advice when things get difficult: Gini Dietrich. I mean, seriously, who can resist a mind that comes up with a fire ant funeral? Love it!!

She’s simply fantastic – and has an authentic ability to build community that just blows my mind. Where does she find time to do it all?

Here she is, if you haven’t already met her online – head over to her blog at SpinSucks.com when you are done reading this post!

What is the most hilarious PR stunt you’ve ever done?

When I started my business, we had a client that made a fire ant killer. For those of you in the South, you know what a big pain fire ants are for the simple pleasures, such as picnics or just playing in the yard.

We sponsored the Fire Ant Festival in Georgia and held a New Orleans-style fire ant funeral  complete with a preacher, mourners, and a casket with a gigantic upside down fire ant in it.

It was, hands down, the funniest thing I have ever seen.

I love, love, LOVE this stunt! My queen-dom for a video!!! Isn’t this a wonderful way to leverage humor to drive visibility?

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How to Hand-Hold Your Clients Through Perfect Live Media Interviews

Perfect Live Media InterviewsYour pitch worked! It was perfectly targeted to the TV journalist’s needs and audience, impeccably timed and well written. It’s booked at the station and on your client’s calendar.

So what comes next?

The interview! The very thought of appearing as a guest on live TV can make even the most seasoned media spokesperson quake in their boots and it’s our job to make sure they are prepared.

The February #PRprochat was lucky enough to have Gerard Braud as a special guest, author of “Don’t Speak to the Media Until…” and he shared some fantastic tips. He has specialized in media training and crisis communication planning since for the last twenty years, and is a wonderful source of expertise.

If you missed the chat, the full transcript is here but I thought I would highlight some of the best tweets in today’s post.

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How To Blog When You Don’t Have One

How to blog when you don't have a blogGuest blogging to the rescue!!

One of the most powerful editorial tools we have as PR professionals is writing and placing guest blog posts on behalf of our clients or employer. And you don’t need a blog of your own to do it.

I’ve been running into one specific misunderstanding about blogging over and over this month – and I think it’s especially important to clarify.

When I talk about guest blogging, I’ve had multiple people chime in to say “oh, but I don’t have a blog.”

You don’t need to have your own blog to write for other blogs.

Zip. Zilch. Not a single post.  You don’t even need any blogging experience. If you can write, you can do it. 

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Press Release Headlines – Does Length Really Matter?

Are Your Press Release Headlines Too Long?When it comes to a press release, headlines are everything.

  • It determines whether or not a journalist will consider the press release newsworthy and worth reading.
  • It drives social sharing (or discourages it), based on the topic and how compelling it is.
  • It impacts click-through rates on search engines, depending how well-written it is.
  • It has a huge impact on search visibility (SEO), if keywords or phrases are integrated correctly.

Not only should it be well-written, compelling and seeded with a keyword or phrase – low on hype, please – but length matters more than most realize. Here are a few quick guidelines to keep in mind.

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