Perhaps the most difficult concept for those new to PR to fully understand is that an effective public relations campaign is a gradual building process. It is the most effective and powerful form of marketing. It offers validation, credibility, reaches your target market. But, seldom does it happen overnight and to be honest, there are often real pitfalls to campaigns that move too quickly. A gradual sustained build that offers a cohesive story and establishes a brand is the best approach. When launching a public relations campaign keep the following in mind: You need to define your stories....

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...

There are a number of obvious advantages for marketers using Facebook applications to promote their company. One of the biggest advantages that both large companies and entrepreneurs have found is that they can promote their organization or new venture online using viral marketing rather than relying on SEO (which can be a much more complex thing to understand especially for newer companies without the resources to hire an SEO consultant). Another advantage of using Facebook applications to promote a product or company through viral marketing is that it can bring in large amounts of traffic immediately...

Can good press really help generate sales? Yes it can. That is not to suggest that good press exposure can take the place of sales activity. However, good press can do much to enhance your overall effort. In many cases, it’s one or two sightings of your product in the press that generates enough interest to cause a potential customer to call. For online coverage, the process is even easier: all the reader needs to do is “click through” from the article to your website to investigate a possible sale. There’s no recollection of the article required, and in some cases the...