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>> PR
Practices & Techniques
Maximizing
PR Efforts: Faced with a shoestring budget, marketing
inexperience, a product or service that's sometimes difficult to explain,
and a lot of noise in the marketplace, how can startups maximize their
PR efforts? In this transcript of a Netpreneur event, entrepreneurs had
an opportunity to ask the experts for tips and pointers. Panelists
included a VP of PR, a VP of Sales &
Marketing, and two business journalists. Free, registration required.
Newsapalooza:
Another Netpreneur event featuring a conversation with leading
journalists on how startups can get more coverage. Free,
registration required.
The
Top 10 Lessons of PR:
Veteran entrepreneur and Garage.com founder
Guy Kawasaki came to this Netpreneur event to discuss The Top Lies of
Entrepreneurs, then stayed for two more presentations, including this
one on making PR work for you. Free
The
Scoop: An online newsletter published by LexisNexis that
includes media relations tips, insights, and opportunities for
technology, finance, and healthcare. Free
>> Beefing Up Your Press Releases
Ten Elements of an Effective Press Release:
Good public relations is much more than writing press
releases, but a good press release will get you a much better
chance of coverage than a bad one. Here's a summary of key
elements of an effective release presented with an annotated
sample so you can see the results. Free
More than anything else, reporters want a good
story, and tying that story to trends, independent analysis, or expert
commentary can make the story more compelling. Here are some resources
to help you add hooks to your announcements.
Netpreneur's
selective list of sources for finding statistics, experts, demographics,
market analysis, and more. See the section on Industry analysts
particularly, which can
provide useful contacts for research and trend data, and can be good sources
for useful
quotes in your press release. Free
Electronic Library:
Pose a question in plain English and launch a
comprehensive, simultaneous search through more than 150 full-text newspapers, hundreds of
full-text magazines, two international news wires, classic books, maps, photographs and
major works of literature and art. $$$
FACSNET:
Targeted to journalists,
FACSNET has databases of qualified sources and
background material on a range of public policy issues. Free
Yearbook of Experts, Authorities &
Spokespersons: Online database version of the Yearbook, the encyclopedia of sources used by thousands of journalists.
Free
>> Media Lists
&
Reporter Contacts
After personal
relationships, knowing the right reporters to contact for certain kinds
of stories and announcements is the most important tool for effective
PR. Here are some sources for getting journalist contact information and
building your own distribution lists.
Netpreneur maintains this list of reporters and other media contacts which you
can access as a registered user of this website. Free
MediaMap:
Provides software and information services for PR professionals,
including its media
directory databases that contain information on target market publications,
reporters/editors and editorial calendars. Media Map also provides other services such as
links to PR Newswire and Bacon’s Clipping Service from its software.
$$$
Gebbie
Press: The US All Media E-Mail Directory, includes more than
22,000 email addresses for key
editors, columnists, correspondents and executives in magazines, newspapers, radio, TV, and
news syndicates across the US and Canada. The directory is organized by the
type of media and by subject for targeting PR efforts. $$$
Parrot Media Network:
Publishes a line of media contact directories used by publicists and ad
buyers. The site has a wealth of media email addresses, but be prepared to dig deep
to find them. Good resource for local media coverage. $$$
The following sites can help you find the Web pages for print and electronic media
outlets.
Netpreneur maintains this list of reporters and other media contacts which you
can access as a registered user of this website. Free
AJR
NewsLink:
The American Journalism Review maintains an extensive site which includes links to the Web
sites of media outlets throughout the world, including newspapers, magazines, and radio
and TV stations. Free
Ecola:
Provides links to over 4,700 paper-printed publications, both computer and
non-computer related. Free
>> Distribution
& Wire Services
Wire and distribution services can be
a good way to get your news out to a wide variety of reporters,
especially when you don't have an extensive press list in house. Fees
will be based on how wide or selective an audience you choose. Companies
offer different plans that let you select reporters who cover different
industries, beats, or in certain geographic regions. BusinessWire
and PRNewswire are by far the two largest wire services, offering the most
sophisticated services and especially prominent in traditional
media newsrooms. Other distribution services can sometimes specialize in
certain types of announcements or in reaching non-traditional
journalists, such as editors of online or electronic newsletters.
Business
Wire: An international press release wire distribution service.
The majority of the world’s publications receive direct feeds from the
Business Wire. BW also offers a variety of other services, including
customized news topic searches for delivery via fax or email. $$$
PR Newswire:
Provides a variety of traditional and new media public relations and
investor relations services, including: delivery of news releases
and photos to a broad or targeted audience; creation of online
investor information; production of video news releases; and
interactive connection between experts and the media. $$$
Reuters:
Delivers information and multimedia news to financial, professional and media
markets, and specializes in material with a financial slant. $$$
Press
Release Network: An electronic release and website announcement
service that claims over 10,000 opt-in media contacts worldwide. $$$
Internet
Wire: Distributes direct company news, including press releases,
financial announcements, graphics, audio and video files, and other
business materials. $$$
Internet
News Bureau: Enables customers to distribute press releases via
email to members of the online media community. News is distributed only
to subscribing journalists. $$$
Bacon's:
Provides a range of media services for anyone wanting to contact the
media with news about their company, product, service, or special event.
Services include press release distribution, media directories, mail
lists, and an article clipping service. $$$
>> Other
PR Tools
Press Access:
Provides current editorial calendars for a
variety of publications as well as other services including press release distribution via
email and fax. Cost: $$$
Virtual
Press Office: An online news service offering access to
thousands of press kits from tradeshows around the world. VPO enables companies to house their press materials virtually.
Editors can log into the site and download
"virtual kits." Cost: $$$
Vocus:
Technology company that offers a Web-based public relations automation platform, with clients that include PR
agencies, corporations, associations, and government agencies. The
product automates daily PR tasks and provides a central
online location to manage all PR activities. Visit Vocus' site and
download their free report, Ten
Essential Elements of an Online Newsroom, for tips on making
your website "journalist friendly." $$$
>> Tracking Your Press Coverage
For a subscription fee, clipping
services monitor a variety of media sources for mentions of a company,
product, person, or other names. Many press release distribution companies offer article clipping services as
well.
BurrellesLuce: The leader in media relations planning, monitoring and measurement, BurrellesLuce provides integrated online services to help you maximize your media relations results. Cost:
$$$.
CompetitivEdge: CompetitivEdge is an electronic clipping service that searches over
12 million articles per month from over 3500 sources.
$$$
>> Professional Groups
& Directories
Public Relations Society of
American (PRSA): Headquartered in New York City, PRSA is the
world's largest organization for public relations professionals. Members represent business and industry, counseling firms, government,
associations, hospitals, schools, professional services firms, and nonprofit organizations.
National Capital Chapter PRSA:
The Greater Washington, DC Chapter of PRSA.
PRSA Technology Section:
PRSA's Technology Section is an organization of communications professionals who develop,
implement and counsel regarding PR or marketing communications for
technology companies, as well as practitioners who work at technology organizations.
Directory of Public Relations
Agencies and Resources on the Web: A directory of public
relations firms from Impulse Research Corp.
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