I turned on the television news recently to learn that one of our top football teams may have lost an important match because of illness, the story being brought to us by a reporter stationed outside the hotel where the players enjoyed lunch prior to the game. In the car, this was the lead story on the radio news with the story read by a reporter, again said to be outside the hotel. He confirmed that the Police had collected samples from the restaurant to pass onto the health authorities. Guess what? The story was also the lead in the tabloid newspapers sat on my desk when I reached the office....

Sometimes I feel bad for on-air TV personalities, because if you’re on television regularly for any length of time, you’re going to screw up. It’s inevitable. It’s the law of averages, and when you do, YouTube will be sure to archive it for future generations. The Internet is stockpiled with videos of show hosts forgetting the camera was on, dropping four-letter words and losing it when heckled by onlookers off camera. The same is true with public relations, because we’re not immune to gaffs, and neither are our clients. One of my staff likes to tell the story of...

Publicity is the most effective way to gain customers. It differs from advertising, as you can’t control the message or the timing, but the benefit is great. A news story in a local or national publication can give more details about your business in a way that allows your expertise to show through. People skim through the advertisement sections but are more apt to read informative articles. And how do you get an article written about you? Start with a media release (also known as a press release or news release). A media release is a prepared news story that you write and send to the media....

Along with networking and asking for referrals, PR is pretty essential if you want to grow your business. PR is short for both ‘public relations’ and ‘press releases’. Press releases are more commonly known as ‘news releases’ now, as you can send releases to media other than newspapers, magazines and trade journals, such as local and national radio and TV, and online PR distributors. In fact, PR is a huge field, and falls in the ‘too good to be true’ category for many! Your business can get a lot of coverage for free if it’s done properly...