Name: Tressa Robbins
Email:
Bio: A country girl at heart, who loves the city, I’ve worked in marketing, consultative sales, and media relations for the better part of 20 years. The skills acquired from these positions certainly come in handy in my present role as vice president, BurrellesLuce Media Contacts. This is an exciting time of change in the world of media and I want to initiate conversations on news to assist and support public relations professionals in the industry. In my personal time, love the outdoors, boating, fishing, riding 4-wheelers (ATVs) and being mom to my three dogs. Twitter: @TressaLynne; LinkedIn: TressaLynne; Facebook: BurrellesLuce
Posts by Tressa Robbins:
- Conduct keyword research to find relevant terms (synonyms) that your stakeholders are likely to use.
- Edit your press release to include those terms — particularly in the headline and first few sentences.
- Add links so readers can easily locate related content.
- Measure your results — not only in brand awareness and Web site traffic, but also in qualified leads and online sales.
- 168 million Americans watched 26 billion videos.
- 125.5 million viewers watched 10.3 billion videos on YouTube.
- 45.6 million viewers watched 424 million videos on MySpace.
- Think of the title as your 120 character headline, but Google only displays the first 61-65 characters so the brand name (if in the title) should go last.
- Be as detailed as possible within your 1,000 characters, and include URLs.
- You have 120 characters to tag brand, city, topics, etc.
- Do your homework; research the outlet and the journalist.
- Role-play your pitch.
- Give the journalist an angle; offer multiple exclusives if you can, each with a different slant.
- Be human — respectful, courteous, professional.
- Make the media’s job easy.
- Don’t take rejection personally.
- Use social media to keep in touch.
- 18 Out of 24 PR pros say, “Yes, PR interns should be allowed to pitch the media.” Six say “no.”
- Of the 18 PR students that replied, 16 said, “yes.” Two said “No, they shouldn’t be allowed to pitch the media.”
- Only Two PR educators voted, both of whom said “yes.”
- Two members of the media split their vote with one having indicated “yes” and one “no.”
PR Needs YouTube
November 17th, 2009Note: This blog post first appeared on ComPRhension!, PRSA’s blog, November 17, 2009.
Did you know that Americans conducted 3.5 billion (yes, billion) searches on YouTube in September of 2009? You should, according to Greg Jarboe and Laura Sturaitis in their “What’s the ROI on Your Press Release” workshop.
Multimedia is one of the biggest trends in public relations today. One reason is that your press release no longer goes just to the media, but now directly to consumer as well.
Three ways to build ROI with every communication was shared in a pre-conference post by Jarboe and Sturaitis. In his presentation at the PRSA International Conference, of which BurrellesLuce was a sponsor, Jarboe offered some additional key points for optimizing your release:
Keep in mind, different people want different formats. Some may only want text. Some may need hi-res photos, video and/or audio. While others may just want to link (so be sure to include your URL). Sturaitis advises to use social media buzz, Twitter, blogs, Web sites, link love, etc., to garner as much “Google real estate” as you possibly can.
Not convinced you need to utilize multimedia in your press release? Here are some eye-opening statistics via comScore Video Metrix. During September 2009:
Jarboe shared three ways you can help ensure your videos get discovered in search results and related videos:
Finally, Jarboe advises, “PR needs YouTube. Do it offensively, do it defensively, just do it!”
Persuasive Media Relations: The Key to Reaching All Your Publics
November 11th, 2009Note: This blog post first appeared on ComPRhension!, PRSA’s blog, November 10, 2009.
This PRSA International Conference Workshop was led by Rebecca Rose-Markarian, APR, and my BurrellesLuce colleague, Johna Burke.
The session began with Markarian demonstrating a real-life example of a successful media relations campaign — for the 2007 Jaguar XK. Rebecca discussed the details behind the public relations strategy and why it was successful. The takeaways include some of the same items I included in a recent blog post, along with some great additions:
Burke began her portion by talking about some tips for protecting your brand’s name in cyberspace, advising everyone to check their companies’ names on usernamecheck.com and knowem.com. (You can view her presentation slides here.)
She explained that most of us “get” the concept of social media but don’t really know how to apply it. We should ask ourselves, “Where is my audience,” and “How am I engaging?” In the case of Twitter, we should keep in mind that it’s not just what we see, but what we don’t see that matters.
She went on to talk about the impact of social media on everything from printed publications, web content vs. premium web content, and byliners to bloggers. One takeaway that really stuck out in my mind was that you must write for communication first and optimization second. We all want traffic and to be read; however, being misleading to get it will only backfire.
Finally, she touched on a point that Markarian mentioned — that we should engage journalists via social media (IF that’s where they hang out and how they want to receive communication/pitches). Read their articles and blogs and comment.
What would you add?
PRSSA National Conference: Student-run PR Firms
November 9th, 2009
While in San Diego for the PRSA 2009 International Conference, of which BurrellesLuce is a sponsor, I went over to the PRSSA National Conference and sat-in on the Student-run Firm Workshop. Nick Lucido, PRSSA national vice president of professional development and University of Michigan student, moderated the session.
Mark Mahoney, senior communications specialist for Kohler, kicked off the session by introducing a national collegiate marketing competition for Save Water America. The competition requires the chapter/student-run firm to respond to a request for proposal (RFP) and develop an executive proposal outlining a marketing and public relations plan and budget. They will receive money and supplies to execute their marketing plan and will be judged on several criteria including creativity, media value, attendees, and local product sales.
The top team wins $10,000 worth of water-conserving products for their school, an all-expense paid trip to Kohler headquarters with roundtable executive meeting, and water conservation products for each team member. First and second runners-up will also receive water conservation products for their school and team members. Read the rest of this entry “
Poll Results: Should PR Interns Pitch the Media?
October 30th, 2009
Flickr Image: lakelandlocal
Last week I wrote a post summarizing some recent posts on the topic of PR interns pitching the media, adding my own two cents along the way. I tweeted the link to my post and it sparked a lot of conversation.
@CMM_PR suggested that an informal web-poll could be an interesting measurement for this question. I set-up a very basic poll with yes/no answers based on whether you’re a PR pro, student or educator on PollDaddy and tweeted the link. @prcindy suggested that I add a yes/no for members of the media, which I did immediately.
Forty-six people registered their opinion in the poll and the breakdown is as follows:
Obviously, this isn’t a scientific study but it does show most agree that PR interns should be educated, prepared, coached and allowed to pitch.
Some follow-up comments/quotes:
I asked Heather Huhman, journalist/career expert to students and young professionals and founder of Come Recommended, for her thoughts on the subject. She replied, “If interns aren’t going to pitch the media during their internship, then what skills are they leaving with, exactly? They can learn the principles of pitching in the classroom. I completely agree with Abby Gutowski—it’s up to the supervisor to manage the situation properly.”
My BurrellesLuce colleague Valerie Simon, and #PRStudChat host, offered “An internship is an excellent opportunity to get some firsthand experience in the pitching process. Interns can gain valuable experience doing the necessary research, writing the draft of a pitch, and assisting with the necessary follow-up.”
And, finally, Chris Sleight, editor at KHL Group Publishing in the UK, replied on the poll page with, “Yes, as long as they’re trained and well-briefed. This includes knowing the client’s business well enough to be able to answer simple follow-up questions on the spot. Amazing how many agencies throw their students/interns to the lions without any of the tools they need to do the job. Not only is it unfair on the individual, it means the pitch fails and the agency comes across as a bunch of unprofessional idiots. So short-sighted!”
Should PR Interns Pitch The Media?
October 21st, 2009
Flickr Image: chemisti
Typically, I try to share tips on pitching the media including bloggers. In this post, I’d like to discuss whether PR interns should engage in pitching the media. My BurrellesLuce colleague, Valerie Simon, mentioned this as part of her post, “Summer PR Internships: Preparing for Your Future” several months ago, but I’d like to expand on that mention and get your feedback.
Earlier this year, I read a blog post by Joan Stewart (aka the Publicity Hound) where she gave four reasons why interns should never be allowed to pitch the media. (The post is in response to a Forbes.com “do-it-yourself PR tactics” article.) Seems to me, her reasons boil down to a single point – that is she believes interns do not sound professional. Stewart likens a PR intern pitching the media to a med school student performing brain surgery. I am not sure I agree with such an extreme analogy, but I do see her point.
@Journalistics then posted a blog saying he does believe interns should get real-world experience, but likens their pitching to “having an assistant shop for your spouse.” He goes on to give some compelling arguments and even turns the tables, suggesting: “What if the local paper wanted to interview you for a story and sent the intern out to write it? How would that make you feel?” In the end, Porter concedes that there are some instances where having a PR intern pitch the media is just fine.
Spurred by the Journalistics’ post, Becky Johns fired a rebuttal with her own, “7 Reasons To Let Your Intern Pitch Your Story.” She provided well-thought-out responses and sums it up with, “Of course, it is not always appropriate for interns to make pitches, and supervisors should use good judgment when it comes to making pitching opportunities available to interns. But just because someone has the label ‘intern’ does not mean that person cannot gather a proven track record and gain more responsibility and independence with projects over time.” Very good point!
Weidert Group’s interns chimed-in with help from their PR manager and internship coordinator, Abby Gutowski. Her post states “Teaching young PR interns the art of a media pitch can be scary to hand-off, but it is the responsibility of PR managers to do it right.” She then provides some excellent tips on how to do so successfully.
In response to the same Forbes article mentioned earlier, an IT reporter responded: “I personally don’t care if it’s the senior person or an intern that is pitching me necessarily. What matters is that whoever is trying to get me to pay attention, has done their homework, and understands both who I am and write about, as well who their client really is talking to and about.”
The reporter response sounds about right to me. Perhaps this should be a discussion question for #PRStudChat? What do you think?
