Pete’s Twitter’s For 2007-09-30
- "I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man" - Jay Z #
- Playing around in the Immediate Edge http://tinyurl.com/ytzekf #
- Just picked up an awesome graphics pack from dealdotcom’s daily offer: http://www.dealdotcom.com/invite/7586/ #
- sitting at the airport waiting to pick up mum from her vietnam vacation… damn delayed flight #
- my book’s no longer in the airport bookstore… hopefully its just currently sold out! #
- why is food at the fun-est places always over-priced; footy, nightclubs, movies airport? #
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Public Relations on a Startup Budget
Sometimes it can be intimidating and discouraging to compete against large organizations with a minimal startup budget. Don’t despair; the Sloan Brothers over at Start Up Nation can help you remove these barriers to entry for your startup business!
To help you promote your business, products or services through public relations, Rich and Jeff teamed up with PR Newswire and Rembrandt Communications to help you obtain publicity for your business on a startup budget.
Melanie Rembrandt, their media relations and writing expert, joined them on a recent edition of StartupNation Radio to share some PR tips.
Technorati Tags: publicity, startupnation, startup, nation, rich, jeff, sloan, Melanie, Rembrandt, Communications, press, release, radio, pete, williams, renegade, publicist
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How To Interview Like A Pro
Okay, so the time has come. You’ve done your homework and made all the right moves up to this point. Now instead of trying to get your name out there, you have finally reached the stage where people are starting to come to you. In fact, you have been asked to give your very first interview. So, now what?
Well, for one thing you have to remember all the hard work and dedication that has led up to this moment. Both you and your colleagues have worked long and hard to create a strong public image and build a cohesive list of media contacts. You don’t want to throw it all away by walking in unprepared at this point. This is a situation that you have to approach with the same methodical attention to detail that has carried you up to this point. It doesn’t matter what type of media has booked you, you have to view it as a prime opportunity to get your message in front of your core audience.
Taking care to plan out your interview means that you can remain in control of the situation. Also if you appear clam, confident, and poised it raises both your credibility and that of your organization. Go in unprepared and you just end up looking like a fool.
This is also your chance to start throwing out the wonderful little sound bites you have spent so much time developing. Think long and hard about potential questions and how you might answer them to suit your purpose. In fact, it is always a great idea to ask for a list of questions before you ever sit down. Again, this allows you to stay in control of the interview rather than being led around by the journalist.
There are those very rare people out there that just have a knack for throwing out perfect quotes each and every time. We have all seen them. DO NOT assume that you are one of them. Again, it will most likely just leave you looking foolish.
Preparing for an interview takes patience and discipline. But, if you take the time and do it right you will be amazed at the long-term benefits that you reap. More and more sectors of the media will start to seek you out. Make a good first impression and you can build on that for a very long time to come. Because when you make the journalist look good, they will return the favor, and they will keep coming back to you time and time again.
How to Maximize your Interview
Know who your talking to.
The very first thing that you need to find out is exactly who will be conducting your interview. You need to know the person’s name and what media outlet they are with. This way you can look into what they are known for or what type of stories they usually cover. If you know what you are up against then you can better plan potential answers to suit your own purpose. You can also add the interviewer to your list of contacts and find out how to get in touch with them after the date of the actual interview.
Another key point that can come out of this simple fact finding initiative is what type of history your organization has with this particular media outlet. If there has been any “bad blood,” in the past you definitely need to know about it going in. You do not want to unknowingly fall into the middle of a situation that you didn’t even know existed.
Know what their angle is.
You need to make sure that you and the journalist are on the same page before you sit down to talk. First find out what they plan to talk about, and then work out how you can make the topic work to benefit your organization or event.
After you find out what the topic is going to be, then find out what it is specifically that they want to know. If you take the time to discuss this with them before hand then generally you can both get what you want and need out of the spot.
As always, you have to be prepared with that quick sound bite. Many times the media will approach you just wanting a quick comment. This is a good thing and what you are after at the end of the day. But when they do, remember that you only have one chance to make that first impression. If you leave them hanging then they will not be back for more!
Know your own goals.
So you have the interview. You have asked the right questions and know both the topic and the scope that the journalist is after. You even have a list of questions. Now it’s up to you to figure out the best way to fit these pieces into your own agenda.
Even if you can’t get your hands on all of this information, you still need to work through two or three main points that you want to hit. If you walk in having taken the time to properly prepare then there is nothing to worry about. You have your sound bites ready and have already thought through several possible scenarios where you could work them in.
This is the best way to make this time work for you. You always want to be appreciative of the opportunity, but it is still up to you to make the most of it.
Prepare what you want to say.
Now it is time to practice exactly what you are going to say. In other words, think about their questions and then actually practice answering them. OUT LOUD
It may sound crazy but the only way to really know how a statement will sound is to hear it. It might sound one way in your head and a completely different when you hear it verbalized. Plus saying the words will make you more comfortable with them. You are less likely to stumble or stutter if you are used to the flow.
This is where your sound bites and key points come into play. You already know the basic information that you want to convey. Now you just need to get yourself comfortable with saying it. If you do well at this then it is very likely that you will be hearing your sound bite being played again and again on the nightly news.
Now your sound bite is only useful to you if it is relevant to the situation. Do not assume that just because it worked for one interview that you can use the same words each and every time. You will probably need to do some tweaking to make your sound bite relevant to each individual situation.
When you are working your way through possible questions and their best responses don’t forget that you always have the option to deflect. There may be some areas that you just don’t want to touch. If this is the case it is perfectly fine to change the subject or just skip over the question. Just practice techniques for doing this so that you don’t stumble. You still want it to be a smooth transition.
Prepare your data and have it ready.
If there are any statistics or current data points that would help your cause, have them ready and don’t be afraid to throw them out there. People like black and white facts and they respond well to them.
For example, saying something like, “Every $5 dollars we raise allows us to help one child…… this means that for every $100 we raise we can make a difference for 20 different children!” Is much more effective then saying, “The more money we raise them more kids we can help.”
Break it down and be specific.
Using these kinds of simple data points can really enhance your message. Just take care not to over do it or you risk losing your audience. Like everything else you just have to strike the right balance.
Technorati Tags: publicity, interview, tips, techniques, pr, pete, williams, interviewww, how, tp
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Kanye Beats 50 Cent in Sales Publicity Stunt
Hi All…
Now this post is more to “give props” to my favourite music artist, Kanye West then to give a specific PR lesson.
Just like Maggie Zable Fisher of Practival PR Blog, I too have been watching the “battle” between Kanye West and 50 Cent with interest.
This all started when 50 Cent gave the website www.SOHH.com the quote (read: sound bite) ,
“If Kanye West sells more records than 50 Cent on September 11th, I’ll no longer write music. I’ll write music and work with my other artists, but I won’t put out anymore solo albums.”
It was a great way to use the media to build hype for the release of their albums.
Well the battle is over, my boy Kanye, Won.
According to Nielsen Soundscan, Kanye West sold 957,000 copies of his “Graduation” album, versus 691,000 copies of 50 Cent’s “Curtis” album.
West told a crowd at the GQ 50th anniversary party in New York, “To be a champion, you’ve got to take out a champion.” “Graduation” is the best-selling debut of the year, beating out Linkin Park’s “Minutes to Midnight” album, which sold 623,000 copies when it debuted in May.
Technorati Tags: kanye, west, 50 cent, graduation, publicity, pete, williams
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Pete’s Twitter’s For 2007-09-24
- Finally back online - First the office gets broken into.. then the office server dies over the weekend… Doesn’t bad luck come in 3’s ?? #
- New Blog Post: Great interview with the editor of Succeed Magazine - http://tinyurl.com/26fwat #
- Getting set for a big day - Emails, Recordings, Testing… #
- Uploading audio interviews to www.hipcast.com - Great service for adding audio to blogs, podcasts or sites. #
- Trying to fix the conversion rates on http://www.onholdadvertising.com.au/ #
- @DanRaine - fair point - for the record I wasn’t doing it to spam.. That’s just the first thing on my to-do list today… #
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Succeeding with Publicity - Interview with Michael Walls
Today I have a special interview for you all…
It’s with the publisher of Succeed Magazine, Michael Walls.
Now, not only is Michael the publisher of one of Australia fastest growing magazines but he is a very experienced publicist.
In the 20 or so mins Michael and I chat we cover:
- Michael’s vast history in publiching and journalism
- How to put yourself in the journalists shoes, and ensure exposure
- The importance of local media in your overall PR plan
- Some left field ‘mediums’ you should consider pitching too
- How to structure and find your angle to make the journos salivate and..
- How Michael can help you exposure TODAY
It’s a great interview, so check it out below….
Technorati Tags: michael, walls, pete, williams, publicity, interview, pr, media, publicist, succeed, magazine, the, secret
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Pete’s Twitter’s For 2007-09-23
- having lunch in torquay with fleur… a weekend by the beach #
- weeken of food - dinner with family who are back from sacremento for the week #
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Pete’s Twitter’s For 2007-09-21
- Dealing with the Police - Our office got broken into over night !!!! #
- @dmxact - Thanks mate.. it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.. we were very lucky #
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Pete’s Twitter’s For 2007-09-19
- OMG - Just read that ebay does more searches a day then google: http://tinyurl.com/yq9mbp #
- Only 13 hours left for the 30DC auction… #
- We are going to come close to cracking $10,000 for KIVA. #
- About to record a new audio interview for www.renegadepublicist.com with a leading magazine publisher. #
- An awesome interview with the publisher of www.succeedmagazine.com.au will be up on the blog in a day or so… #
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Getting Your Slice Of The Publicity Pie
Howdee All,
I wanted to kill two birds with one stone post here…
It’s an obvious statement but ‘knowing what is being said about you, your business or industry can profoundly influence your strategic direction and future growth‘… but sifting through all the media to find articles or comments that are worth tracking is not only costly but hugely time consuming.
This is where a great media clipping company like Slice Media come in. They will do the ’searching’ for you… simply set up your tracking folders and Slice will get to work, monitoring Australian and New Zealand press, TV and radio media for matching news items. You can change your criteria at any time to make it as specific or as general as you like.
If you decide to get serious about this publicity thing, I highly recommend that you use the services of a ‘media clipping company’ because not only will you be informed when a ‘pitch’ gets exposure, but if you track competitors and your industry as a whole, it will provide you with tonnes of opportunities to become a ‘industry commentator’ on the various ‘hot topics’ that are being covered in the press.
I only recently heard about Slice when a friend and publicist Sally Romano mentioned it on her Publicity Queen Blog
Sally is one of the jam-packed interviewees that feature in the Renegade Publicist home Study Course.
Technorati Tags: sally, romano, publicity, queen, slice, media, pete, williams
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