Tips for Getting a Journalist Interested in Your Story

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I still remember the first time I got press coverage for a client. I worked at a boutique marketing firm in what can only be described as "a closet with a window." Only an imaginative landlord could describe the space as an office. The creative director sat with his back to me. Talk about pressure to perform!

After days of pitching various media outlets for a new client with no luck, I abandoned my usual cold-call approach and tried something different. Here's what worked for me...

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Why Are Politicians So Good At PR?

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Many business owners think of PR as one-off opportunities to draw attention to what they are doing. When the business happens to do something worth promoting, they send a press release out or post on their blog and go back to running business.

That approach does little to create the momentum needed to make a real difference to your business’ bottom line. A better way to approach PR is to think of it like a political campaign.

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The One Question You Have to Answer to Improve Your Reputation

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I’ve recently been reading “The Ultimate Question” – a book about how to identify strategies that lead to long-term sustained profit. In the book, the authors argue that the number one question businesses should pay attention to is “would you recommend us to a friend?” That one question determines whether a business is set up for the long haul.

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Building a Movement: What I Learned from One NYC Councilman

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One of the first public relations campaigns I worked on was promoting the environmental argument against this new form of oil and gas drilling called hydraulic fracturing. I was working for Councilman James F. Gennaro, a local elected official in the New York City Council. Though “fracking” has since become a national debate, in 2009 it was still a relatively new process and the environmental concerns were even more nascent.

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