PR "Oopsies"

To stick with a similar theme of "mistakes" (please reference my business social networking mistakes entry), I chose to share and evaluate an article I came across on AllBusiness.com highlighting the top 10 Public Relations Mistakes.

I feel it necessary to first establish the key point of difference between PR and Advertising: 

***You don't pay for the space in the media; You instead find ways to earn the media space. As a newspaper reporter, I often cover many events that are PR-created to help organizations, whether it be non-profit or for-profit. I've seen it done right, and I've also seen it done poorly.

My example of right: A privately owned beauty salon donates 100 percent of a day's earnings to a WNY charity that offers support to abused female teens.

Wrong: A new holistic center opens and offers a free week of classes. Instead of discussing what the classes will offer, the directors focus on the corrupted medical industry.

Moving forward, here are the 10 Public Relations Mistakes that the authors at AllBusiness.com have established, and I personally have witnessed.

 1. Poor Timing: Lead time for magazines, newspapers and other media is crucial.

            * I’ve seen this over and over again when PR representatives have forwarded me information about an event the day of the event. The last-minute “Oops, I just remembered” to contact the media doesn’t work. Those are the releases or the e-mails that get deleted the fastest.

 2. Poor Choice of Language: Omit the fluff and buzz.

            * We don’t print the press releases untouched. In fact many times we re-write the entire announcement because of all the non-sense in it. Trying to figure out what the actual news of the press release is should be easy, but unfortunately the press releases we see rarely use simple language or get to the point.

 3. Poorly Written Press Releases: I judge you when you use poor grammar.

            * When press releases arrive on my desk that have fragments, poor grammar, spelling errors, etc., I immediately laugh about it and make fun of the business who forwarded it to me to my co-workers sitting in the area. If I have space issues with my section of the paper and have to choose between two re-written press releases I will always choose the more professional, properly written release.

 4. Poor Follow-up: Be prepared with follow up question

            * Earlier this week I was writing a story based on a  press release I received about an insurance company that will hold a food drive to benefit the Food Bank of WNY. It was the business’s first summer charity event, and when I called the contact number, the woman had not much to say. She didn’t know much about it, other than that they were excited about doing it. My story now will lack the depth and personal appeal to make it a good-size story. Instead of have a nice byline story, it will only run as a small brief.

 5. Too Much Hype: Use support facts, not generalizations and exaggerations

            * Even yesterday a press release I had to retype about a professional theater company joining with a local college included exaggerations. The release was very positive for the future, which was good… but it was too positive. It came across as wishful thinking and extremely exaggerated.

 6. Press Releases Without Purpose: The more press releases sent out, the less the media will pay attention

            * Don’t try to make stories where they do not exist!!! Why force it? I sometimes run into this as a reporter… You can’t report on things just to fill the paper; there has to be a reason for why the readers will care.

 7. No Newspaper Knowledge: Don’t live in a bubble

            * When writing a press release, it’s important to know what’s going on in local and world news. By doing so you can tie in timely examples in your news release plus you can avoid poorly timed releases.  Also, if the writers at the newspaper know you’re reading the paper, that will give them more incentive to include your release. They know you’ll be looking for it.

 

8. Lack of Plan: Don’t wing it!

            * It’s hard to know what to do next when lacking a plan of action. Determine When, Where, and How you will proceed. Back up plans aren’t such bad ideas too.

 9. No Help: The happy medium between doing it all yourself or hiring someone to do it for you

            * For a large story I was writing on Dining Out for Life earlier this year, the organization hired one woman to handle the event’s public relations. I worked through her to get to the people I needed to interview. Unfortunately, because I couldn’t contact the people I needed to speak with directly, I had to depend on her to make sure the information was passed along. This would then explain why I showed up to the restaurant  at 4 p.m. for an interview and the man I was meeting with had no idea I was coming. Great work (sike.) 

10. Staying Inside the Box: Sticking with the same media outlets and the same press releases

* Use pitch letters to give media outlets ideas for story. Now, with social networking spreading like wild fire, using Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Blogs, etc. to give updates on the businesses, people will catch on and become interested in what all of the commotion is. It's easy, and it will force the PR writers to become more created with their words in order to gain their viewers' attention. 

When public relations is done correctly, I've really seen it work well for businesses. At the paper, some businesses have earned some great story coverage based on what they've submitted.