Check out the story, “Failing Economy Shutters 525 Magazines in 2008“

HARO – Help A Reporter Out (helpareporter.com) is an ad supported alternative to Profnet where reporters, editors and other members of the media can post their need for expert sources. HARO subscribers (did I mention it’s free) receive three emails from HARO most days, and they can follow up with the reporters with helpful tips, experts, resources, or fees. Just don’t pitch off topic or Chief HARO Peter Shankman will boot you from the community … and he’s like Santa Claus in that he’ll know when you’re bad (aka when you break the rules) … in fact, I don’t ever remember Santa Claus publicly humiliating me in front of my peers … so maybe he’s really one upping Old Saint Nick. Plain and simple – if you pitch off topic, he’ll boot you and then call you out in the next newsletter to 40,000 or so subscribers (probably significantly more than that by now).

Peter created a simple offering that keeps him gainfully employed, helps the media and PR pros, and is founded on a common sense approach to doing something better than the industry standard. Way to go, Peter … but I wish I had thought of it first

Presently, PReturn subscribes to both HARO and Profnet leads, but if Peter maintains the impressive contacts and queries he’s built up to thus far, I have a feeling we won’t be the only firm transitioning completely to the HARO family. Peter has also eluded to improvements in the year ahead.

Did I mention it’s a free service?

Give it a try at www.helpareporter.com.

Some helpful tips to consider:

- Body language counts

- Use bold action words

- Have your messages in mind

For your amusement and education, view this “Pundit School” clip for more media training insights: http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=215338&title=Pundit-School.

Case in point: Ad Age reported about a You Tube video making the rounds called “Harry Potter – Magic Coffee Cup.” According to Ad Age’s coverage of this “idea of the week,” a shopping mall in Sri Lanka ran the promotion, where a “magic coffee cup” stirred itself in what appears to be a mall’s food court. This undoubtedly captured headlines and attention for the shopping mall, which had teamed up with the Harry Potter franchise.

Nothing like a simple stunt to get people to take notice. In this case, media attention followed. Most likely, so did increased foot traffic and sales … so now it’s time to tune in for the US copy cats; what kind of stunts will the U.S. be busting out to attract the always coveted (especially this year) holiday shopper?

Earlier this year, while working with a PReturn client that consistently commissions and publishes third party consumer data on the online marketing industry, the client sent over a several MB PowerPoint deck that supposedly contained graphic displays and overviews of their latest survey. But before I could see any of that, I got the dreaded error message: “This file was created by a newer version of Microsoft PowerPoint. Do you want to download a compatibility pack so that you can work with this file?” I was then given the option of choosing yes or no, and only after selecting yes was I whisked away to the Microsoft site and prompted to download a 27.5 MB file. Of course, I downloaded the pack and all was well, but …

How many reporters do you think would go through this trouble? If you’re lucky, a reporter will tell you they had some issues and couldn’t open the file in which case you can correct the problem by saving it in the 2003 format as a “Presentation.” If you’re not lucky, they’ll cancel out of that error message, delete the email and never pay it another thought without first being prompted to do so by you.

So what to do to correct the problem and get your media relations efforts back on track?

1. First of all, remember to never send attachments unless a contact has specifically asked you to do so
2. Also remember that most reporters do not upgrade their Office suite every time the folks at Microsoft decide to release one
3. Ideally, if you’re using Office 2007, change all default settings to save files as the standard 2003 versions (Presentation for PowerPoint, Word Document for Word, etc.)
4. Beware the “x” … all 2007 file types seem to include an “x” at the end of the file extensions; so while a PowerPoint Presentation carries the .ppt file extension, a PowerPoint 2007 Presentation would instead carry a .pptx file extension
5. Whenever sending an office attachment to a reporter, make sure the X is not there and go with the lowest common denominator file format (standard 2003 formats work for nearly every person with an office suite on their computer)

Follow these simple rules to boost the odds that your files get opened and greatly reduce the risk of agitating that media contact with whom you just worked so hard to make some headway.

Although we make every effort to keep DynamicMediaRelations free of political discussion or opinions, some intriguing articles hit the Web today that demand we talk about the election in light of an awful problem that has taken hold of not only politics but corporate messaging in general: As the consumer news media continues to evolve into a mouthpiece for consistently repetitive organizations of all sizes, shapes and colors, communicators have thrown ethics out the window all because they can … because deception works … because if you say something enough, people will eventually believe it to be true.

With that, I will climb off my soap box, but not before sharing a couple pieces of required reading for all communications and messaging professionals. Please keep the ethics of our profession in mind. Please don’t join the ranks of those seeking the best results at any cost who will do whatever it takes to get their story told in their messages.

So with no further adeau, don’t miss these wonderful reminders of our need to not abuse the power of the pedastal:

• “Shading — or ignoring — truth on the campaign trail“
  The Los Angeles Times, September 14, 2008
• “John McCain’s Journey From Maverick to Liar“
  U.S. News & World Report, September 15, 2008

Remember, being the media’s only source of information on a particular organization or topic in no way gives us the right to spout lies! In fact, we have a responsibility to protect the integrity and respect of our industry as a whole (at least what’s left of it).

The article offers a great case study of how to manage an explosively negative story with heavy consumer interest, and Flack’s analysis is clear and extremely concise. If you’re sitting on knowledge of the latest corporate or government scandal and need some examples of how to best manage that issue, then this well written case study of how to manage the media cycle is a must read.

Case in point: Earlier this week, Bush coincidentally scheduled a press conference to coincide with a press conference from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Cooperation you ask? Not a chance. Bush clearly sought to trump Bernanke, but the media would never report on the economic state of our nation by following a Bush conference over one from Bernanke, Right? … or would they? The scariest part about this situation is that if it weren’t for The Daily Show, many (including yours truly) wouldn’t have even been aware that Bernanke spoke on the economy.

Media Rants offer the Dynamic Media Relations bloggers a chance to do just that – rant, but in this case, I’ll defer to the master – The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart. So if you’ve got 8 minutes to spare, you’ll laugh and you’ll probably shutter with fear in response to the judgment or lack thereof that you’re about to see.

So have a look at The Daily Show Segment, “It’s the Stupid Economy” … to better understand why the media would listen to an optimist instead of an economic expert …

The golden rule of media relations is to be a resource to journalists, and simply doing some editorial calendar research is a great way to prepare yourself for this. Editorial calendars, as the name might suggest, are schedules put out in advance by a publication, highlighting the specific editorial focuses of each issue.

Magazines publish editorial calendars as an opportunity for advertisers to place their ads in magazine issues targeted toward specific topics, but they can be an invaluable resource for media relations professionals as well. You will have better luck convincing a reporter to cover your piece of news if your pitch complements the overall focus of the issue. You just need to do a little research.

We typically research editorial calendars for our clients around November to identify notable opportunities in the year ahead to secure placements in target publications. This can be done in two ways. An online database, like Vocus or Cision, will allow you to search for specific topics, access a wide range of media outlet types, and see who will cover it and when. For more targeted news, identify key publications you would like to pursue and look closely at each editorial calendar to determine when you will reach out to them. These can often be found on a publication’s Web site, and sometimes in print media kits.

Now is the time to complete your homework, by researching the publication and the contact and getting your resources in order. Once that’s done, then it’s time to approach the journalists. Ideally, this should be done just as they begin to think about the target issue, so touch base a month or more in advance, depending on the magazine’s publishing timeframes. Monthly magazines sometimes require 3 to 5 months lead time, while weeklies require less.

It’s a win-win situation. Journalists get timely information related to the focus of the upcoming issue, and you get your client’s news in the publication.

A research brief from The Center for Media Research caught our eye this week: their June 30 briefing, “Coffee and the Web for C-Level Execs in the Morning.” According to Forbes and Gartner, 67 percent of C-Level executives named the Internet as the most influential and important source of business information – a number that’s increased 37 percent since 2004. Conversely, the numbers of execs who say newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal are their main source of business info has decreased 36 percent since 2004.

So, what does this mean for media relations pros?

Well, for starters, it means the landscape is shifting fast, and we need to keep up. Changing the way we choose keywords, mentioning competitors and reevaluating media targets is a good place to start.

Keywords

In an earlier post, I wrote about the importance of inbound media relations. Taking the time to choose the right keywords that will provide the highest return can net big exposure. Thanks to online news alerts and automated feeds, a company’s target audience could very well be set up to receive information specific to their interests. So knowing what types of keywords they’re likely to plug in for Google News and other automated alerts will increase the chances that your news gets delivered when relevant alerts are in place.

Mentioning Competitors

One of the golden rules of media relations used to be to never mention a competitor, but with online information, it could be advantageous to mention the competition in an effort to gain exposure. This strategy should be used very cautiously and judiciously but shouldn’t be ruled out altogether. In press releases, blog posts and other online efforts, for example, it can pay dividends if you can strategically ride the coattails of a well known competitor to reach new audiences, set the stage for favorable product or service comparisons, or specifically target the customers or followers of a particular competitor.

Since online news alerts and automated feeds allow anyone to pick up news containing particular keywords, using a competitor’s name can be one of the best ways to quickly expand your audience. But don’t do startups and lesser known competitors any favors by mentioning them in your communications.

Media Targets

Increasingly, execs view online news sources as legitimate competitors of print publications. The landscape is changing, expanding the reach of smaller publications and hurting the established titles that executives have trusted for years. In response, we should reevaluate the way we analyze media outlets and change the way we prioritize media contacts as needed.

After all, this trend will likely continue to develop, at least for the foreseeable future.

So how else does this impact your work? Drop me a line or post a comment to share your thoughts.