Publicizing Your Dream: 2009

Friday, December 18, 2009

Coming in 2010: "The 10 PR Tasks Every Entrepreneur or Artist Should Do

During my career, I've had the opportunity to work with a host of artists and arts-related organizations and businesses. Over the past few years, I've developed several seminars to help emerging professionals land local, regional and national news media exposure. One of my talks/seminars centers on "The 10 Most Important PR Tasks Every Entrepreneur Should Do". Please check back the first week of January for the first PR step. I'll be posting a new step each week.

Happy Holidays!

Monday, June 8, 2009

What Makes News?

During my career as a PR professional, I've worked extensively in the arts, entertainment and hospitality industries. Following are some examples of projects that have resulted in good news coverage. I hope this will help you come up with some great, newsworthy projects of your own.

* The monthly "Tunesmithing On Music Row" event spotlighting songwriters lands coverage in most of the local calendars (in Nashville)... including The Tennessean, MetroMix and The Scene. Just about every "public event" is eligible for coverage in the calendars. Remember that deadlines can be up to 21 days in advance for newspapers.

* A big Beatles-style benefit for W.O. Smith School in 2009 received extensive coverage in local, regional and national media. The "news hook" was that some of the top stars in the business (Wynonna, Phil Keaggy, Jonny Lang), along with The WannaBeatles, would be performing their favorite Beatles songs for a great cause. You can't beat that for news value.

* A book signing/talk by National Vocabulary Coach of the Year Debbie Watts at Borders Books and Music drew coverage in the calendars, as well stories on local, regional and national levels. As a result, books orders for "Wordabulous!" are coming in from Oregon to Massachusetts.

* Landing a story can pay big dividends in credibility and exposure. A story on the front page of The Nashville Business Journal announcing the launch of new drug-dispensing technologies in the long-term care industry is still reverberating in the google search engines -- more than a year later!

To successfully land news coverage, it's important to do what the media pros do. Find a strong news hook and write a well-written press release (story) in Associated Press style. Give the media what they need, and always thank them for the coverage you receive, regardless of play.

Now put on your reporter's cap, and get to work!

(*Note: To learn more, please consider attending the next "Publicizing Your Dream" class or seminar in your area.)

Chuck Whiting is president and founder of Whiting Publicity & Promotions, a Nashville-based PR firm that specializes in publicity for businesses, organizations and professionals of all kinds. He also is the co-author and co-songwriter of The Littlest Star: a musical story, an internationally distributed holiday picture book and music CD. He teaches media writing at Middle Tennessee State University. You may contact Chuck at (615) 242-9857 or Arts@WhitingPublicity.com .

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Writing and Editing Tips

By Chuck Whiting

Did you know that news reporters, editors and producers throw away roughly 90 percent of the press releases they receive? That's a startling statistic for entrepreneurs who are competing for much-needed media exposure. In this fast-paced technological age, media professionals are rushing to meet the next deadline. They don't have time to study press releases that are riddled with run-on sentences, poor punctuation, misspellings and grammatical errors.

Landing news coverage often hinges on "meeting the media professional's needs". Based on what I've been receiving in my e-mailbox lately, even some of the leading PR firms are getting it wrong.

Following are a few press release writing and editing tips. By using them, you will improve your odds of landing a big story.

* Before you even start to write a press release, be sure that you have a strong "news" hook. "If it ain't news, don't send it!"

* Follow the rules in the Associated Press Stylebook -- the resource guide that every professional print journalist uses.

* Write in the inverted pyramid structure, presenting your information from "most important to least important." Media professionals are in a hurry, and they may need to cut your story....

(* NOTE: To learn more, please join me in Nashville this spring for my four-week PR class, "Publicizing Your Dream: The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, Editing & News Media Exposure".)

Chuck Whiting is president and founder of Whiting Publicity & Promotions, a Nashville-based PR firm that specializes in publicity for businesses, organizations and professionals of all kinds. He also is the co-author and co-songwriter of The Littlest Star: a musical story, an internationally distributed holiday picture book and music CD. He teaches media writing at Middle Tennessee State University. You may contact Chuck at (615) 242-9857 or Arts@WhitingPublicity.com .

Thursday, April 16, 2009

For Good Publicity, Preparation is the Key

Imagine this. Shortly after opening your business, scheduling your event, or releasing your new CD, a newspaper reporter calls to set up an interview. What will you do?

If you’re prepared, then there’s no problem. You’ll confidently thank the reporter for his or her interest, set up a time for the interview, and e-mail over a detailed press release written in Associated Press style. You’ll soon see a beautiful story and photo in print. Sales, attendance or bookings should receive a big boost.

But what if you’re not prepared? You don’t have a press kit, a photo, or even a press release. Will the reporter give you more time? In most cases, the answer is no. Like all of us, reporters face strict deadlines. Businesses, organizations and artists already face an uphill battle. With so many other stories out there, you need as much ammunition as possible to receive good news coverage. The key is to be well prepared. It enhances your professional image and makes the process easier for the reporter.

Following is a list of to-do’s to help increase your chances for good publicity.

1. -- Prepare for an interview by writing up a list of questions and rehearsing your answers.

2. -– Develop a package of materials the reporter needs. The first step is to write, edit and distribute a detailed press release written in Associated Press style. An event requires the distribution of a calendar item (for the calendar editors), a public service announcement (for radio and TV), and a longer press release with more details and direct quotes. An artist will need to develop a press kit with a press release, a biography, a fact sheet, photos (jpegs and/or hard copies), a logo, a business card, testimonials, and the CD. Some professionals and businesses include videos in their press kits and/or on their web sites.

3. –- Follow proper protocol when working with the news media. Be courteous, professional, truthful, unobtrusive, appreciative and punctual. Give them what they need when they need it. Answer all their questions in your press release. Don’t pester them with too many follow-up phone calls.

4. -- Always double-check your spelling and grammar on all written materials. Using Word’s spell check is fine, but also take the time to double check spellings in the Associated Press Stylebook and the English dictionary....

(*Note: To learn more, please consider attending Chuck Whiting's "Publicizing Your Dream" class or workshop.)

Publicizing Your Dream