InsidEPR

As former journalists, four Engage PR employees put pitching into perspective

By Gail Farrell, Frank Bauch, Stephanie Look and Caitlin Cassady

Public relations professionals work closely with their clients and the press on a day-to-day basis. Sometimes having a background in some form of journalism helps give PR an interesting point of view....

 Photo attributed to Journalism Guru

I got my first job at Business Week and Electronics because “You write good English, and you’re sane.”  (The previous incumbent had lacked in both departments.)  I learned a lot, eventually becoming Boston bureau chief of Electronics, but I wasn’t satisfied. I could write about anything but knew nothing in depth.  Becoming a hi-tech PR account executive, and later a PR writer, let me focus on only a few clients. Thanks to my background, I know what makes a good story, I’ll tackle any topic, and I still ruthlessly edit everything for quality. And I’m still (I think) sane!  - Gail Farrell, Writing Director

I think working in broadcast news has given me perspective on just how busy the life of a journalist can be...

Is your PR driving business your way?

By Jeannette Bitz
Part of my role as a partner at Engage PR is business development. It should go without saying that one of the most important aspects of business development is keeping your current clients happy and helping them expand their visibility and succeed beyond their expectations.

In times like these, every PR dollar needs to be well spent, so when I approach new prospects I ask them “Are you happy with your press coverage and your PR overall?”  Many reply, “My boss has a relationship with the contact at the agency.”  But when I follow with “Okay, but is your PR helping drive sales?”, I’m always surprised by the silence at the other end of the phone. 

PR 101, or Learning on the Job

By Gail Farrell
I’ve been in PR for ages, but I never studied PR.  Instead, I learned my first PR lessons on my first job as an editorial assistant for Business Week and the now-defunct Electronics.  One early lesson was “Poorly written press releases can be both subjects of derision and sources of entertainment.”  Particularly dreadful examples of mangled grammar and scrambled thought were read aloud to hoots of laughter.  Simultaneously I learned “Know your publications.”  Why did a ball bearing manufacturer keep sending press releases to Electronics? 

Another lesson was “Never whine to a reporter or threaten to pull your company’s advertising when your completely un-newsworthy story doesn’t make it into the publication.”  I didn’t actually tell the PR guy he had wasted my time with a worthless story, and I resisted the very strong temptation to tell him to stop whining and grow up.  I just said that the magazine had more important stories to run that cycle.  As for advertising, I said that pulling it was his company’s business decision and that advertising didn’t influence editorial decisions. 

Are we really ready to cut the cord?

By Chelsea Irwin

I had no problem abandoning my landline phone service a few years ago – I mean, I couldn’t even remember my own number half the time. As soon as mobile phones became reliable and convenient (and not just REALLY LARGE phones that made you look cool in middle school), there was no need for a landline.

Carol Wilson recently wrote in Telephony about a similar phenomenon that is happening with cable and online video. Her article got me thinking - am I ready to end my TV service to watch “my shows” on the Internet? I do watch some shows online: The Office, 30 Rock, Hannah Montana. (Am I joking about Hannah Montana? You’ll never know.)

This fad is much like the mobile phone situation. At first, everyone had a mobile phone, but needed the peace of mind that a landline was still available. (What if you flush your mobile phone down the toilet? Did that happen to me? Perhaps….)

Bottom line: while we all like to watch TV online, we aren’t ready to completely cut the cable cord.

My prediction: most people will be “so over cable” in five years. Thus, cable will be the next landline.

EPR secures slideshow in eWEEK featuring influential security experts

By Stephanie Look

It’s important to evaluate how the media landscape is changing across the range of media outlets—from trade press, to business press, to the blogosphere.  One thing they all have common is the integration of more visual and multimedia content on their websites.  This presents new challenges for tech companies to develop more graphics, charts, and video elements in their marketing materials—resources not found in your traditional whitepaper or press release, circa 2006. 

However, understanding this media trend and knowing what resources generate most interest from reporters allows us to create new opportunities versus simply following topics on an edcal.

Slideshows help reporter and publishers increase the number of site clicks—keeping advertisers happy, without taking away from the editorial value.  Knowing this, EPR took advantage of this trend and successfully pitched eWEEK an editorial slideshow that would offer...