Pt I: Five Things The Media Dislikes

There are 3 "R's" we must maintain when dealing with media and the public: Reputation, Respect and Relationships. One can not stay in good standing without the other. In fact, as a publicist, if you do not have a good reputation, and you have no respect and no relationships, how can you give your client and/or service the credibility it needs?

As an up-n-coming pr pro, building relationships is EVERYTHING. Especially with media. The following are five things the media dislikes. Trust me when I say this, TAKE NOTES. The last thing you want to do is alienate the very people you need to help you publicize your product or service.

1.) Sometimes You Have to Accept The Word "NO"

Yeah, yeah. We've all heard it, persistence is a good thing. But in some cases it can be annoying. Media professionals will not build relationships with a pusher who calls 500 times after they're told "no." If your media contact says "no," accept it and move on. It's not even necessary to ask "why?" Sometimes it's better to just move on before you potentially ruin a valuable relationship.

2.)Long Pitch Letters and Press Releases

Seriously, in a world of deadlines, who has time to read a long drawn out press release? If it's too long, they won't read it. One page is all you need. If the media wants more, they'll ask for it. Have a great headline, state the major points in a strong first paragraph, and bullet everything you want to stress. Include secondary information in a background release.

3.) Lying, Hype and Misrepresentation

The truth always emerges and when stories aren't based on facts, the media usually ends up holding the bag. Your media contacts won't forget who got them burned; nor will they give you the chance to do it again. As for hype, media pros know a good story when they see one, and their antennae usually cut through the hype. *cough* That goes for twitter.

4.) Name Dropping

Name dropping is kind of lame and no one likes a name dropper. This often indicates that the story is weak. In most cases, the connections that celebrated names are intended to conjure up are tenuous at best and unless the celebrity is directly involved, they seldom change the story's value. While name dropping may work with friends, it will hurt you with media professionals.

5.) Follow-Up, Follow-Up, Follow-Up

Media depend on others to supply them with the information they need to do their jobs. Don't send a press release and call or fax, and then don't follow up when additional information is requested, you make it difficult for them to meet their deadlines. If you say, or even imply, that you're going to do something. do it and do it promptly. Otherwise, your contacts will consider you unreliable and unprofessional. If you don't respond promptly, it may be too late. You can't expect the media to wait for you.

Stay tuned to the socialchix.blogspot.com for the remaining ten things the media dislikes! Also, coming soon...Things that the media loves!

Source: "Guerrilla Publicity" by Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman, and Jill Lublin