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The Ten Most
Common PR Mistakes
By Alan Caruba
Who needs public
relations? Just about everyone these days.
Public relations has
ceased to be the domain of large corporations, trade associations, and
government agencies. Today, everyone engaged in a business or profession
needs to use public relations in order to stand out from their competition.
All too frequently, however, this area of activity is either ignored or
poorly executed.
If you want your PR
to fail, follow these simple guidelines!
1. Don’t plan
ahead. Never anticipate your "busy season" or a tie-in with a
particular holiday or event that can benefit you. (Most magazines need at
least five to six months advance notice Newspapers and radio-t.v. need far
less time, but waiting until the last moment is a sure way to lose valuable
PR opportunities).
2. Write a really bad, boring news release.
Don’t put an interesting headline on it, make it very long, and neglect to
put phone numbers where you can be reached.
3. If a reporter
does call, don’t return their call immediately, but make them wait until
the deadline for the story has passed. Be evasive and long-winded. If
the real answer is "I don’t know," make something up!
4. By no means
undertake an on-going public relations program, reaching out to the media in
your area with, at a minimum, a monthly news release featuring useful
information.
5. Don’t
maintain an updated mailing list of local (regional and national media)
outlets and, even more importantly, don’t keep a list of the newsroom fax
numbers available.
6. If an event or
issue occurs that relates to your business or profession, make no effort to
fax a short news release or "Op Ed" to your media list. Your
expertise should be kept a secret.
7. Never join any organizations, give any speeches or enter any competitions.
Don’t donate any time or money to worthwhile community events. Never,
under any circumstances, send a thank you note to anyone.
8. Don’t engage
the services of a public relations counselor or agency to plan and execute a
public relations program for you.
9. If you do
engage PR professionals, never keep them informed on issues, opinions, and
activities which they can turn to your advantage.
10. And never
think long-term (see #1). Pay no attention to the way your reputation is
enhanced by a steady flow of positive news about your activities.
PR is Not
Advertising
When it comes to
marketing communications, public relations is generally not as well
understood as advertising. Simply put, with advertising, you buy space or
time. You have something specific whether it’s a billboard or a radio
commercial.
PR is far more subtle
because it relies on securing media coverage that works to enhance the
public’s recognition and confidence in your business or profession. It is
rarely quantifiable.
When a company or
individual receives "bad" publicity, they know it! When they are
benefiting from "good" publicity, it’s just part of the on-going
growth of the enterprise.
Good public relations,
however, is a very hands-on activity which requires a good measure of
planning and effort to work well. It involves an investment in a press
clipping and media distribution service, along with a high level of postage,
telephone and fax expenditures.
Public relations, to
have any success, requires building recognition, first, with the media that
serves your market area, and, after that, the provision of a sufficient flow
of newsworthy information to generate coverage. News people value their news
sources. When you become one, good things happen.
---Alan Caruba,
president of The Caruba Organization, is a veteran public relations
counselor.
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