The Publicity Hound’s Blog  

When the news of GOP Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s pregnant 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, broke over the weekend, Barack Obama was quick to issue an order to his campaign workers to “back off.” 

Family members of candidates aren’t fair game, he warned.

“We don’t go after people’s families, we don’t get them involved in the politics. It’s not appropriate and it’s not relevant…And if I ever thought that it was somebody in my campaign that was involved in something like that, they’d be fired.”

But what about the rest of us?

Should anti-abortion or abortion-rights advocates piggyback onto this news event to further their cause or issue?

What about opponents or proponents of condoms in schools? What about churches? Abortion clinics? Adoption agencies? Roe v. Wade backers and opponents? Parents groups?

Is the pregnancy fair game?  

It most certainly is, just as the pride—or not—that Michelle Obama felt for her country was a legitimate issue after she commented publicly about it.  As for Sarah Palin, she thrust her family into the spotlight, warts and all, when she accepted the nomination. (This photo of Bristol was taken Friday during her mother’s acceptance speech in Dayton, Ohio.) 

What about you? Do you work for a company or agency that will be piggybacking onto the issue of the pregnancy for publicity? Or have you decided to let it rest? What are you telling your spokesperson?

If you’re an author, speaker or expert whose topic ties into this news, will you be writing press releases or blogging about your opinions? Will you be offering yourself as a source to the media and bloggers? Why or why not?

Posted In: Authors & Publishers, Blogs, Crisis Communications, Nonprofits, PR Consultants/Publicists, Pitching the Media, Press Releases/News Releases, Publicity on the Internet
posted On: 9/2/2008: 9:27 am: By Joan
Comments: 30 Comments

Twenty years ago, when I worked in the newspaper business, if a local company had delivered to my newsroom a free gourmet burger that I could enjoy at lunch, I probably would have turned red from embarrassment, then eaten it, with my fellow newsroom buddies watching.

Gourmet burgers, after all, didn’t fall into the “anything of value” category that the newspaper’s ethics policy prohibited. Gifts we couldn’t accept included things like concert tickets or anything worth more than about $20. But still, we always felt a little sleazy if we accepted anything from sources, particularly from companies that hadn’t met us, but wanted publicity.

Today, however, I’m guessing that things may have changed. Now that publishers are cutting newsroom staffs to the absolute minimum, journalists are busier than ever. And inbetween writing and editing stories, they’re spiffing up their resumes, hoping to jump ship before it sinks. That gourmet burger might not make a reporter feel as guilty as he might feel if he had job security.

These days, there’s also the world of social media and using it to keep up with what journalists are doing. The July 14 issue of PR Week discusses the “pitch potential” of social media sites and points out the do’s and don’ts of pitching journalists at sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Todd Defren of Shift Communications, creator of the social media press release, read a tweet from a digital editor who was complaining that he was missing lunch because of deadlines. Defren sent the editor a gourmet burger on behalf of his client.

“That wouldn’t have been possible without something like Twitter,” he said.

Are you using Twitter to keep tabs on journalists you’re targeting? If not, you should. In my “Special Report #52: How to Use Twitter for Business to Network, Promote, Sell, Recruit & Profit,” I discuss the Twittering Journalists wiki created by Harry Hoover. It’s must reading for anybody who needs to start forming strong relationships with journalists. See if your favorite reporter is on the list.

***Important note: The PR Week article cautions that PR pros should determine how journalists are using social networking sites and be wary of inviting reporters to join their networks if they have never met. You can still follow your favorite journalists on Twitter, however, and be privy to personal and business information about them–juicy little tidbits that some of your competitors will never know because they’re too busy to bother with social networking.

Posted In: PR Consultants/Publicists, Pitching the Media, Press Releases/News Releases, Social networking, Twitter
posted On: 7/29/2008: 12:32 pm: By Joan
Comments: 1 Comment

Leigh Ann Hubbard, managing editor of MyFamilyDoctorMag.com, writes:

Periodically, in response to a request, I’ll get a quote from a doctor (via a publicist) that mentions a specific product. Inevitably, I Google the doctor and he or she has been or is on the payroll for the folks who make the product.

There’s no mention of conflict of interest in these emails, so it makes me mad, and I assume the publicists are trying to pull the wool over my eyes.

Recently, that happened again. In email correspondence about it, in which I expressed my anger, the publicist actually defended the practice: “Dr. [____] consults from time to time with the company as do many medical professionals for the pharma and OTC markets. … As you know, Leigh Ann, many reputable practicing physicians consult with manufacturers from time to time to help them develop better products so people can be well.”

I responded, “Yes, I know that. And as you may know, it is then inappropriate for them to promote the companies they ‘consult.’”

Much to my amazement, she responded, “I was not aware of that, to be honest with you, and not sure whose policy you are referring to–or perhaps some code of ethics I am not aware of. However, you see it all the time in the medical journals where researchers are in the pockets of pharmaceutical companies (disclosed of course) and surprise! The research makes the pharma drugs look good.”

Have I really been getting these conflict-of-interest pitches simply because publicists don’t know any better?

Anyway, whatever the reason, this practice makes me never want to use the publicist–or any of his or her clients–again because I can’t trust the person.

It would be wonderful if you could address this. I know you have a large audience, and maybe there are publicists who truly don’t know that this is absolutely unacceptable and insulting.

What do you say, publicists?

Do these doctors need to hire new PR people? Or is what Leigh Ann wrote common practice in the medical community? Do journalists actually fall for this?

Posted In: PR Consultants/Publicists, Pitching the Media
posted On: 7/25/2008: 3:21 am: By Joan
Comments: 11 Comments

Here’s a quick trick for creating news when there’s absolutely nothing new to pitch.

Be willing to talk about your business problems and how you solved them.

Pick up any business journal and you’ll see company after company mentioned, usually because they’ve figured out ways to solve a problem, whether it’s delivering the product faster to customers, or finding and keeping great employees, or how to enter a new market that’s already crowded with competitors.

But these stories don’t only play well in business journals.  They’re great for general interest magazines, daily and weekly newspapers, and television, particularly if you have enticing visuals.

This tip is one of more than a dozen I’ll be sharing tomorrow during Bulldog Reporter’s teleseminar on “Evergreen Magic for PR: Media Masters Show How to Make News When There’s No News.”

We’ll talk, for example, about editorial hot buttons: pegging your story to rumors, future trends, features, divisive issues, dramatic hooks and other sure-fire ways to supercharge your hit ratio, even when you’re not breaking news.

Four other panelists will join me, and moderator Brian Pittman will make sure we move things along quickly so we can squeeze in everybody’s tips.  Don’t miss this one!  It promises to be fast-paced, and you’ll come away with enough ideas to keep yo upromoting through the end of this year and beyond. 

Posted In: Business Promotion, Magazine Publicity, Newspaper Publicity, PR Consultants/Publicists, Pitching the Media, Publicity Resources, Publicity on the Internet, TV Publicity
posted On: 7/23/2008: 3:48 pm: By Joan
Comments: No Comments

This is for the doubting Thomases who aren’t convinced that social networking can be profitable.

I promoted last week’s teleseminar series “How to Use LinkedIn to Promote Anything–Ethically & Powerfully” by creating an event on my Facebook page.  My assistant then invited my 1,028 friends.  At $77, I wasn’t sure how many Facebook friends would attend, but it was definitely worth it.

Fifty-four people RSVP’d to tell me that they were attending, or had already signed up.  That’s $4,158 in registration fees just from Facebook!  Something else started to happen.  I started to build the buzz about these teleseminars.  Warren Whitlock, one of my Facebook friends, wrote on my wall:

Kim Beasley, The Blog Queen, who Warren referred to, has more than 400 followers on Twitter, and I have no idea how many of those people signed up after reading her tweet.

If I still haven’t convinced you, you can listen to social media success stories galore at The Social Media Summit Sept. 10-12 in Chicago, sponsored by Ragan Communications.  I attended Ragan’s “Unconference” on social media last year in Chicago.  I made great contacts, came back with hundreds of tips to share with you, and learned about how to incorporate social media into my own marketing campaigns.

At this year’s summit, you’ll learn about Web 2.0 strategies such as podcasts, message boards, video and wikis.  The conference includes one track for internal communications and a separate track for external and marketing communications. Curious about what Web 3.0 might look like? You’ll get a sneek preview.

I hope to see you there.  This conference is so important that I worked out a special arrangement with Ragan.  Publicity Hounds save $100 on the $1,195 registration, plus an additional $100 if you take advantage of the early-bird registration, which has been extended to this Friday.  To get $200 off and pay only $995, you must use this link.

Let me know if you’re going to the conference.  Maybe we can have coffee between sessions.

Posted In: Blogs, Business Promotion, General, LinkedIn, PR Consultants/Publicists, Publicity on the Internet, Social media marketing, Social networking, Video
posted On: 7/22/2008: 10:12 am: By Joan
Comments: 2 Comments