Make your business pitch easy to understand

As seen in www.ragan.com today:

Would a middle schooler understand your business’s pitch?  If not, you need to make it clearer.  Here’s how:

1. Cut out the jargon. They don't have patience for it.

2. Pitch in 10 minutes or fewer. The average attention span of middle school students is 10 to 12 minutes. After that, you've lost them.

3. Incorporate different learning styles. Because so many kids have access to smart phones, tablets and computers, visuals are as important as auditory.

4. Keep it simple. Keeping it simple is one of the hardest things to accomplish. Conduct a focus group to see if people understand how you explain your company.

5. Stop thinking about marketing. Your audience will sense anything inauthentic and probably zone out.

http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/46694.aspx#

Crisis Communication During Hurricane Sandy

Social Media (SM) is a blessing [and a curse] during a crisis.  SM has become the go-to source these days, especially when you’re trying to connect with people inside or outside the crisis area.  However, is it one of the best and accurate forms of communication?

Social media ‘junkies’ can turn up news faster than professional reporters, and some even make the news up!  During Hurricane Sandy several stories were fabricated, many by the same anonymous tweeter.   

Coverage of bad press via SM during Hurricane Sandy:

ABC News:  “Superstorm Sandy Rumors Cost Congressional Campaign Manager His Job”

New York Magazine:  “Hurricane Sandy: A Perfect Social Media Storm”

Boston Globe: “Hurricane Sandy shows media: Don’t believe everything on Twitter”

USA Today:  “Hurricane Sandy shows dark side of social media”

Yahoo News:  “Fake Photos of Sandy Flood Social Media”

 Blog By Aman Chahal

Robert Pattinson Tells 'The Daily Show' He Wishes He'd Hired A Publicist For Kristin Stewart Fallout (VIDEO)

Robert Pattinson Interview:

http://huff.to/Nnn48B

Whether you are in the business world or Hollywood, ALWAYS hire a publicist/PR consultant to deal with the media for you in times of crisis.  We are trained professionals that know how to handle the crisis before it gets out of control.  This will also take the pressure off of you so you can deal with the event on your own terms… without the interruptions of media inquiries.  You have enough on your plate to deal with already, right?!

- Blog By Nancy Amaral

To Everything (Turn, turn, turn) There is a Season (Turn, turn, turn)

Music Video:

To Everything (Turn, turn, turn) There is a Season (Turn, turn, turn)

It’s the era of Kindle, Nook … and blog.  Is print dead?  Perhaps not.  I was somewhat heartened to read the news this week (on the Internet, I must admit.) that a small-town blogger in southwestern Georgia has purchased the Albany (Ga.) Journal, a weekly newspaper founded in 1939.

Blogger buys newspaper?  That’s the journalism industry equivalent of ‘Man Bites Dog’.  That is, it’s NEWS.  It’s also a countervailing trend – or would be, if there was another example I could point to here. (Two is a trend, so my old publisher taught me – which makes some sense since One, is the loneliest number.)

But perhaps it’s the start of a reversal in the trend away from print – a trend for which there have been many examples in the last few years – The Seattle Post Intelligencer and Madison, Wis., Capital Times, to name but the obligatory two.) 

Of course, it also could be an isolated incident. It turns out that the blogger – Tom Knighton – always wanted “… to be a news man” and when offered the chance to buy the weekly, took it. And unlike the apparent prevailing trend in print media, the Albany Journal seems to be doing quite well. In fact, it seems to have a better ad sales record than the acquirer’s blog, Laws-n-Sausages.com.

So, I think we’ll have to wait and see if this prompts more new media to acquire traditional print media. However, perhaps you have another point of view?

Blog By Andrew Neilly

PR Never Sleeps

The Gallen Office

Some professions require that extra cup of coffee to get through the daily grind. 

In celebration of National Coffee Day on Thursday, September 29^th, Dunkin Donuts and CareerBuilder released a survey finding that Marketing and Public Relations professionals are ranked No. 2 amongst professions that consume coffee the most.

Of course we do!…it’s a 24/7 job, and we’re hungry too!

Here is the full list from the survey:

1. Scientist/lab technician

2. Marketing/public relations professional

3. Education administrator

4. Editor/writer

5. Healthcare administrator

6. Physician

7. Food preparer

8. Professor

9. Social worker

10. Financial professional

11. Personal caretaker

12. Human resources benefits coordinator

13. Nurse

14. Government professional

15. Skilled tradesperson (plumber, carpenter, etc)

- Blog By Aman Chahal

What I’ve Learned Working For Gallen.Neilly

Mandy Milner

Gallen.Neilly Summer Intern 2011

In the couple of months I have been working at Gallen.Neilly I have learned a couple key tips when dealing with the media.  I compiled this list by listening around the office and talking with my boss and coworkers. I know they aren’t mind-blowing ideas, but I hope they show some of the things I have picked up on throughout my internship.  Although they are all directly related to PR, I think some of them can be broadened and will be useful lessons that I take with me as my work develops into a career.

           

Answer the five (or six) questions as quickly as possible in a press release.  Who? What? Where? When? Why? (And sometimes How?).  This was the first thing I learned – on day one.  My boss says his journalism professor in college told this to the students on his first day of class as well.  He also continues to repeat it and although the first time I heard it I thought to myself “yeah, yeah, I know.”  I find myself listing out each of the five (or six) questions and answering each one before I begin drafting a press release.  Although it seems obvious, it is apparent when some of the five questions are not answered.  Like when you read a news article and you ask yourself, “why do I care?” or “so what exactly are they doing?”

Don’t be offended when they don’t want your press release. Reporters end up on tons of media lists by a number of agencies and there is a lot of news going on every day – too much for them to cover everything that comes across their desk.  Just because your story wasn’t the most interesting that day doesn’t mean the reporter won’t write an article about your client in the future.

Don’t continually call reporters asking if they have received the release you just sent out.  Chances are they did. And they will promptly tell you that before hanging up on you.  Again, with the amount of releases they get each day, they do not have the time or interest in confirming that they got it.

Be prompt when returning calls, reporters are often on a deadline and are on the hunt for a quote to put in their article.  Reporters may call a couple companies mentioned in their article to better the chances of one firm getting back to them with a quote for the article.  Getting your client a quote in an article is big, and it’s exciting.  Don’t wait around to call the reporter back because if you wait too long, the reporter may get a quote from somebody else, and you (and your client) have missed a great opportunity.

Do your work. On time.  This pretty much goes for any job, but in PR, if you wait too long to send out a release or don’t finish it on time another company may beat you to it.  Reporters don’t want old news, they want to be the first to report on a particular event, and you want to supply them with the information so they can do that, before anyone else.  When clips come in, it also shows your client that you know the right people and can get their information to the public.

Blog By Mandy Milner