PR Job Coach

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

'This is a guest blog that I penned for [link] , the blog site for search executive Lindsay Olson of Paradigm Staffing [link]. The blog is repeated here to convey the urgency of helping reduce unemployment by raising awareness of those who are gainfully employed to the plight of those who are not. Paying it Back/Paying it Forward - Do''s for Helping a Job Search More than 100 people have sought advice from me in just the last six months on topics ranging from cold calling, search techniques, bad

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Bad Pitch Blog

NOVEMBER 6, 2009

'We''re all looking for something to take us to a better place-workwise, that is. How do we do that? Follow trends. When you’ve got one example, it’s a “noticeable situation.” When you’ve got two examples, it’s a fact. And when you’ve got three examples—welcome to a trend. A trend is something that is just happening—the way ads are becoming smaller by the second (and disappearing, thank G-d); the use of tiny devices that are almost ear-sized for us to check who wants to reach us; the tendency fo

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Trends Privacy Fashion Newspapers 61

PR Job Coach

NOVEMBER 27, 2009

'I love it when I receive questions from young inquiring minds. And normally it is folks just getting started in the public relations field. Never did I expect to see a question from an energetic person in high school who is anxious for success in our industry. The inquiry from the high schooler went something like this. I am in high school want to pursue a career as a celebrity publicist.

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Training Publicity Insurance Insurance 106

PR Job Coach

OCTOBER 28, 2009

'One of the advantages of the public relations field is that there are many components that allow you to generalize or specialize not unlike the medical field. I just received an inquiry from a student pondering the question of "what to do." I am a recent grad with a degree in multidisciplinary studies with three minors including public relations, arts administration, and entrepreneurship.

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Study Web Writing Examples 106

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Internal

PR Job Coach

OCTOBER 24, 2009

'I recently heard from a young pro about a career predicament that likely occurs far too often. The job was not as advertised. Here is what this young pro had to say: "I need advice on which direction to go with my career. I graduated in 2008 BA in PR and four internships. I took a job with a new company and was promised training. My job responsibilities were suppose to be creating marketing initiatives, writing press releases, and some design.

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Advertising Advertising System Training 100

PR Job Coach

OCTOBER 24, 2009

'Here is my guest blog at Lindsay Olson''s Blog on job hunting. [link] Thanks to the skittish economy, the job market today is not easy pickings. I have gotten more than a handful of letters asking whether now is the time to leave an existing role for hoped-for greener pastures. My answer is now is not the time to jump head first into the job market.

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Insurance Insurance LinkedIn Google 100

Bad Pitch Blog

NOVEMBER 8, 2009

'Bloggers send more than a few emails asking to be removed from a media list, we also send emails to PR people to tell them why a pitch doesn’t work for their blog – and perhaps what might work in the future. I rarely receive a response from these notes – which is unfortunate and yet telling. But music blogger Olivia Giovetti brings us an experience with a PR firm representing high-end hospitality clients that serves as a clear, and very frustrating, example of what not to do.

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Pitching Agency Customer Service Software 60

Bad Pitch Blog

SEPTEMBER 21, 2009

'I’ve been hearing a lot of people tell me they won’t do anything gutsy: Friends advising me against certain actions cause someone might react poorly (as if anyone’s paying attention); colleagues warning they think everything should be on pause while the economy recapitulates; partners saying no to events because they think it could hurt their “personal brand” (whatever that latest cliché means); and clients who feel their dulled-out partners might “get mad” over an overly-aggressive PR campaign

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Energy Meeting Banking Pitching 60

Bad Pitch Blog

SEPTEMBER 5, 2009

'One of the more frequent questions asked of the Bad Pitch blog is “what’s the difference between pitching journalists and bloggers?” We used to assume that the main difference was that pitching bloggers requires hyper-customization. And while they do, it’s deeper than this – there’s a bigger difference. 80/20 Rule If we did an analysis of all the ham-fisted pitches sent our way, I’ll bet that 80 percent or more of them are originally aimed at bloggers.

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Pitching Blogging Analysis Technology 60

Journalists receive an overwhelming number of press releases daily, making it hard for your news to stand out. While some news is valuable, most is not.

Media

Bad Pitch Blog

FEBRUARY 16, 2009

'Pitch letters might be the most effective tool in your arsenal that you’re not using effectively. Since we originally took our PR baby steps, it has been tattooed in our minds that pitch letters are the Holy Grail and learning to skillfully craft a missive to attract media attention reaps vast benefits. Then why do many in PR compose epistles that simply fall on deaf, uh, eyes?

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Pitching Writing Web Report 58

Bad Pitch Blog

APRIL 4, 2009

'You know it: Market caps are messy! But why did Kate Ennis attempt to prove it without any real facts when writing to BusinessWeek to try and get them to write about the growth business of incontinence? I get we all have a job to do, and pitching a product line like this is definitely sticky.but come on! In a recession when the reached Personal Finance columnist has a lot of serious, timely and real work to do, the below just reads like total poop.

Pitching 57

Pitching Education Writing Trends 57

Bad Pitch Blog

AUGUST 24, 2009

'The pitch worked. The interview’s scheduled. Now the real work begins. We could arguably start “The Bad Interview Blog” with all the gaffes that can occur in this critical phase of media relations. Instead of more this drama, we’ll help you create an interview brief so you, and your source, can steer clear of a bad interview. The 411 and Then Some The goal of the document is to prepare your source for the interview and it also keeps you on target during the interview.

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Interviews Pitching How To Report 56

Bad Pitch Blog

DECEMBER 29, 2009

'If you worked during this holiday week.thanks for closing out the decade with us. As the Bad Pitch blog heads into its 5th year of existence, we’re jazzed about 2010. So we’ll be brief. Here are three ways to suck less in 2010. Pledge to Make a Mistake: Promising yourself you''ll f-up in 2010 comes with two benefits. Accepting you''ll make a mistake allows you to focus on the actual work instead of achieving perfection and dreaming up horrible consequences stemming from the mistake.

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Resources Pitching Twitter Blogging 54

Speaker: Michelle Garrett, PR Consultant, Author, Speaker

Yes - press releases are still relevant in the world of public relations! 🎯 Ever wondered how to write a compelling press release, or what are current best practices for pitching your news to earn media coverage? In this exclusive webinar with Michelle Garrett, PR Consultant, we’ll cover tips and advice to help you get the most out of each piece of news you pitch!

Pitching

Bad Pitch Blog

FEBRUARY 8, 2009

'Although I have toiled in public relations for 95 years (!), it seems as though most of my friends—not to mention my immediate family—have trouble understanding exactly what I do. When I am speaking with them about a media interview, say on television, they assume I’m on camera. When I say I am working with a newspaper reporter on story, they ask me why my clients don’t just advertise in the publication because: ”PR and advertising are the same, right?

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Advertising Advertising Education Newspapers 54

Bad Pitch Blog

MAY 17, 2009

'Reporters are notoriously cynical, and to be honest, if you had their job you would be, too. So you need to be one step (or ten) ahead of them. Play “devil’s advocate.” What are the first questions you’re going to get? What are the questions that will make you uncomfortable, or that you don’t have an answer for yet? You need to find the holes before the reporters find them for you.

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Pitching Report Newspapers Corporate 53

Bad Pitch Blog

JULY 19, 2009

'After five years client side, it only took me a couple of weeks back in agency world to see how much had changed and how much hadn''t. Instead of detailing what I mean by the above passive-aggressive statement, I’d much rather remind our readers to not be blinded by "The Shiny New." Your clients are coming to you and asking for a Facebook page, or they want a Twitter account.

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Technology Facebook Twitter Tools 50

Bad Pitch Blog

SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

'Our latest good pitch comes from Tamara Gruber with Red Giant Consulting (alas, no relation to Macgruber , we checked). Her pitch is to some discerning, fellow PR colleagues – Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson of the For Immediate Release podcast. Background "In doing outreach for a client, Tungle.com, I reached out to Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson. Of course there is no tougher audience than PR professionals so I wanted to make sure I nailed it by demonstrating that I was very familiar with them,

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Pitching Meeting Training Interviews 48

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Brand

Bad Pitch Blog

AUGUST 19, 2009

'By Guest Blogger Susan E. Jacobsen I recently came across a blog with relatively decent content, but with just the oddest of names -- Outhouse General Counsel. I had a hard time taking what the blogger wrote seriously because I kept getting caught up in the blog/company name. It struck me as odd and I couldn’t help but shake my head. It was a play on words and while he explained his ( il )logic for the name, it really would not jive with anyone outside of the industry he was targeting.

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Wikipedia Twitter Corporate Company 48

Bad Pitch Blog

AUGUST 27, 2009

'Here are some quick links to help you with your pitching efforts -- they all focus on writing. Don’t read into that though. 1) One Word One Word.com One word, sixty seconds. It’s a great creative exercise to keep your writing chops honed and your brain thinking. 2) Acronym Finder Acronym Finder.com Acronyms are inside baseball and ultimately make your writing harder to read.

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Writing Exercises Engineering Twitter 47

Bad Pitch Blog

APRIL 8, 2009

'Despite the fact that news happens pretty much while you sleep, PR is surely not an overnight process (to say the least). In PR, as with so many facets of life, patience is a virtue. We hear about “instant gratification” every day. Everything from digitally recording boob tubes to Lipton’s Cold Brew teabags is engineered to give us exactly what we want when the whim overtakes us.

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Radio Course Engineering Web 47

Bad Pitch Blog

JANUARY 17, 2009

'I''ve heard the headline of this post from clients and colleagues in the past. You probably have too. Sure nothing can compare to actually holding the fruit of your labor. But if a client is (still) questioning the value of online placement vs. print placement, you should show them this video. The Online Media from RealWire on Vimeo. New rules for new tools.

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Print Web Newspapers Google 47

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Crisis Management

Bad Pitch Blog

OCTOBER 30, 2009

'Last week, I had the blind luck to present right before Artie Isaac at SummitUp. If you don’t know Artie, you should. Artie Isaac co-founded SpeakerSite and the Young Isaac Agency. He also teaches creativity, consumer behavior, copywriting and the history of advertising at The Ohio State University and the Columbus College of Art & Design. Artie started his career with agencies in New York, including Ogilvy & Mather.

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Pitching Creativity Storytelling Advertising 46

Bad Pitch Blog

OCTOBER 21, 2009

'Earlier this week one half of The Bad Pitch Blog kicked off SummitUp -- an event packed with great content, including presentations from Bob Garfield and Chris Brogan. The Bad Pitch Blog took advantage of this quality time to ask a few folks about how to improve the pitch. First up is Chris Brogan -- author of the New York Times Bestseller "Trust Agents.

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Pitching Community Blogging Marketing 46

Bad Pitch Blog

SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

'Creativity is almost impossible to define. According to consumer-insight researchers at Lucid Incorporated, every person recognizes he or she has it, but its meaning varies widely. Anna Sandilands and Anna David, who quit Starbucks to found a company notably called Lucid, have appealing perspectives on creativity, both from their experience at the coffee lords and from an astounding 2006 research project on behalf of Apple Computer.

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Creativity Exercises Corporate Interviews 46

Bad Pitch Blog

AUGUST 13, 2009

'During the past decade everyone seemed to be—or pretended to be—in the business of branding. The majority of ad agencies, PR firms, Hollywood agents, management consultants, and even many focus group participants, jumped on the got-to-brand bandwagon with glee and abandon. Every purveyor of fine branding boasts a proprietorship over unique methodologies, outstanding insights, and uber-talented staff that will transform a product or service into something they can dub larger than life.

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Branding Brand Groups Engineering 46

Speaker: Shawna Bruce, Director of M.D. Bruce & Associates Ltd.

Are you ready to face the unexpected? When the stakes are high and the pressure is on, there's no time to waste - you must be prepared to communicate clearly and confidently. In today's unpredictable world, mastering the art of crisis communication is a must-have skill for any public relations professional. Whether you're facing a weather disaster, a cyber attack, or a PR nightmare, knowing how to craft a clear and compelling message can mean the difference between chaos and calm, confusion and

Crisis

Bad Pitch Blog

JULY 14, 2009

'Nielsen Media Research says they are measuring ratings for TV shows “regardless of the platform on which it is viewed.” That means they’re tracking not only couch potatoes, but also folks who watch shows online, on their phones, on the ole m-3 and “outside the home” (whatever that means), thus plugging the absolute hole in advertising metrics. Ah, advertising metrics.

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Bad Pitch Blog

JUNE 16, 2009

'A little bird tells me that Twitter can reinforce habits that, in turn, can improve our media relations efforts. 1)Brevity. More effective writing translates into a lower word count. Hey, even this post was going to be a top 5 list. 140 characters force you to be on topic. A three paragraph pitch (or less) should be enough for you to get your point across. 2) Links.

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Twitter Pitching Mobile Report 46

Bad Pitch Blog

JULY 1, 2009

'Tough media week for superstar Michael Jackson. Imagine, your death being announced by TMZ. Horrors! Actually, I adore TMZ. It’s the one program and site that makes me laugh all the time. A lot of tabloids can learn from it. They should stop yelling at us. TMZ “covers the waterfront” in LA—there is no story they don’t have first. And it’s something their brothers at Time Warner (heck, they are all owned by the same Dad) should take a hint from.

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Newspapers Interviews Corporate Twitter 45