London-based Houston PR is blasting out (yes, that’s an intended pun) a gimmicky press release to announce its relocation and rebranding. It has put out what it believes to be the world’s highest press release: While I’m not a particular fan of PR gimmicks or shotgun pitches I like this one, so I’ll bite. I […]
Great Design for an Email Press Release
I recently received an email press release that features a compelling design with strong visuals and a nice layout. That’s not something you say every day, and since bad releases get called out much more than the good ones, I thought I’d share it here. It’s for a new book of visual essays and poems […]
The Best Free (or Cheap) Tools for Blogger and Influencer Outreach
Blogger and influencer outreach is an area with strong crossover between PR, audience development and link building. For publishers it typically involves identifying users that are sharing, discussing and linking to content from your brands and their competitors, and about specific topics. Then building relationships with those users over time and coming up with ideas […]
Startups Use Micro-PR Campaigns to Tip Momentum in Their Favor
This is a guest post from Wendy Dulaney, co-founder of Easy.PR. Wendy has been doing some interesting work for start-ups, targeting small audiences to achieve specific goals during critical stages of their growth. I asked her to share some examples and tips here. – Adam How many great ideas and concepts from early startups are […]
Harlem Globetrotters Press Release: Not Sure Why I Got It, But I Kind of Like It
Last week I received a press release from an unexpected source: the Harlem Globetrotters. Frankly I’m not sure why they’d be sending a press release about their new VP of Communications to me. But I always liked the Globetrotters as a kid, so when I saw the team logo at the top I actually thought […]
Media Relations Gone Wrong: How Not to Pitch a Journalist (Video)
The Internet and social media have certainly made it easier to conduct media relations in a more efficient and less intrusive way. At my first PR job I had to type in contact addresses from the hard-copy Bacon’s guide so we could mail merge and send out the press materials. Or stand over the fax […]
Press Release Optimization Checklist and Tips
Press release optimization doesn’t get the attention it once did, at least within the SEO community. But a considerable number of releases are distributed over the wires and added to online pressrooms every day, so it is still an important tactic for PR professionals. Why wouldn’t you try to increase the search engine visibility of […]
Email Press Release Optimization Circa 1999
While going through some old documents I came across an article I’d written on email press release best practices back in 1999. It’s a fun look back at the early days of online media relations so I thought I’d share it. I started doing online public relations activities in 1995 and from 1996-2000 I managed […]
How Much is a PR Professional Worth to a Startup?
While watching the film The Social Network over the weekend one scene in particular caught my attention. Mark Zuckerberg and key members of the early Facebook team are meeting to discuss roles and ownership stakes in the company. To quote the Mark Zuckerberg character in the film (emphasis is mine): “Now here’s the arrangement. Eduardo […]
Better than Great: A Cure for Buzzwords and Marketing Speak
Twice in the past year I’ve covered the most overused PR buzzwords and marketing speak and press release buzzword abuse. It is fun to point out the biggest offenders but even well-intentioned marketing communicators can find it difficult to avoid them. Ready to stop being a “leading provider” of “unique,” “innovative” and “award winning” overused […]