The pressure is killing us, I know. Our clients want something done yesterday and all at the same time. I know it’s hard completing everything on time and making it perfect. But like it or not, the devil is in the details! So stop focusing on the major ideas only and pay attention to details as well. The reason is simple: not doing it and making little mistakes slip in makes you look sloppy! No one will care that you were all tired and stressed and the phone was ringing non stop. They will only care that you had typos in every paragraph of the text you have delivered.

I’ve happened to come across quite a few invitations, press releases and announcements, all hurried and sloppy-looking. Typos, text format inconsistencies, important details not mentioned, overlooking negative meanings that could be linked to a whole event concept, poorly chosen locations, you name it, they’ve got it! And this makes the PR people behind it look really bad, although they are quite good at what they do.

But coming up with the plan is one thing, implementing and delivering it is another. And the great ones do all of these steps perfectly. Think of it this way: your press release, your advertorial, your event invite, your email might get to your future customer. They won’t care about anything but the fact that their name might be misspelled in your next press release. Or that their event name will be trashed online. And they won’t be there to listen to excuses.

We’ve all been there and overlooked something. Have we all learned from it? Are we all paying more attention to such aspects? Unfortunately, no… But we could start today!

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I’ll keep this one short and sweet. I get a lot of Twitter direct message spam. I overlook some of it, because it’s unintentional. I don’t think all Twitter users a) realize they send direct messages to those following them with Mafia wars requests and b) can tell how utterly annoying it is when it comes a few times a day from different people. But I draw the line at so called online professionals doing the very same. Stop! It’s annoying.

Yes, if you have a twitter account that you use casually to fool around with friends, by all means, play all the Mafia Wars you want. But if it’s a business account and you are trying to show how much of an expert you are, you should know better! No, you can’t get away with it as easily! You’re on probation! I follow people in my line of business because I admire them. We can brainstorm, discuss our ideas, share news. But I can’t look up to spammers or waste my Twitter time on them

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Just when I though Samantha Jones of Sex and the City was the major challenge when it comes to explaining what PR is all about, I heard news on some new PR-centered reality show produced by Kim Kardashian and showcasing two of her male BFFs. Yes, that is male Best Friend Forever.

So after finally getting to a short, sweet and powerful speech explaining how PR is not exactly what Samantha seemed to be doing, after occasionally explaining that Samantha’s translation of “I’m in PR” was just a funny example, not the real deal, I am now facing a new challenge. How will I respond to “So, you’re in PR! You do what those guys on Kim Kardashian’s TV show do?” Continue reading

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Yes, it’s true, there are hundreds and hundreds of press releases sent out every day. Yes, some of them will be picked up, some won’t. Yes, some of them are boring and some aren’t. I am all for making things differently, try something new, but that does not mean you should change what’s already working.

There’s a reason why press releases are built they way the are. You know, most important information in the first part of the release? Or the inverted pyramid model? And it’s simple. Whoever you send it to, journalists, bloggers, customers or partners, you want them to know what’s new and cool fast. No one has the time and the patience to dig the information out of paragraphs and paragraphs of metaphors and pompous word twists.

I’ve recently come across a few releases where only the very patient managed, after a few tries, to find out 1. what the release was about and 2. what was important and what was just nonsense. If you’re message is hidden and readers have to go through time-wasting quests to discover it, you have failed!

I know all about the overused phrases, but if you want to write a press release that works, try making your message simple, clear and fun! Then send it to people who are actually interested in what you have to say. I think you have a better chance like that, as opposed to hiding it between long sentences that took you hours to come up with and that need a detailed commentary to be understood.

Photo credit.

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…be smart about how you try again!

I don’t really understand why some PR and marketing professionals are off to a good start and then mess it all up in the end! Let’s say you have a cool security product to promote. You wander around the blogosphere, looking for relevant blogs. You find them, you make sure they have covered a certain story, one presenting a problem your product can easily solve. You send a nice email to the author of the blog, showing that you’ve read it, understood who they target and only then contacted them.

All great! You get no reply for a couple of days. And you ask yourself: “Shouldn’t I remind them of my initial email?” And then you blow it! Instead of writing a short follow up email, you resend the same email, completely disregarding the fact you’ve already sent it again. If you take the time to try again, why not do it right?

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