The altitude of attitude.

Media relations always seemed like a good fit for me, and finally, one day I was ready to give it a try. In the beginning, I was a bit naïve, thinking that everybody would give me the time of day, listen to my pitch, and I would go on placing articles, case studies and product mentions right and left. After getting my feet wet for a few weeks, I realized that this may not be the case. But what I also realized throughout what seemed like a million pitching phone calls and e-mails was the importance of keeping a good attitude, or how I like to say, “keeping the altitude of my good attitude high and the altitude of my bad attitude, low.”

What’s the Story?

It seems like common sense, but some of us public relations professionals occasionally lose sight of exactly what it is we are pitching to the media. We can get wrapped up in the client’s vision- Yes, indeed, YOURS IS the GREATEST, MOST INNOVATIVE hands free fishing pole on the market- and allow our focus to deviate. But our job is to know our clients inside and out, take a step back, put on our “objective” glasses, and creatively discern what their story is.
It’s not always that easy, but isn’t that why they are paying us the medium-to-big-bucks vs. doing it themselves?

What’s up with all the bad writers who think they can write?

Art directors, executive assistants, lawyers, CEOs, and yes, even fellow marketers, express with great confidence that they are great writers. To me, proclaiming that you are a great writer is no different from saying that you can sing – and not Pop Princess Britney Spears smoke-and-mirrors kind of singing. I mean real singing, where you can close your eyes, and the emotion, sound and tone of the voice truly moves the listener, transporting them to a whole new place

Can I Have a PR onThat?

Earlier in my career I had a colleague ask me for “a PR.” She came into my office, told me about a new service her department was launching, and said, “I’m going to need a PR on that.” Not understanding what she really meant, I said, “no problem” and began developing my strategy. After all, I’d spent my entire career thus far in PR. I even deliberately earned a degree in PR in college.