The Public Relations Blog

Learn what they really think about your press releases

Have you ever wondered what happens to your press release after you send it off? Those who attended Axia Public Relations’ latest webinar, “Confessions of CNN Producers,” learned what the journalists and producers at this media giant really think about the information they receive. You can access a recording of the event here.

Getting your company on CNN may be difficult, competitive and challenging, but it is absolutely possible. You just have to know why many pitches fail and avoid making those same mistakes.

Take a minute to think about the best stories you’ve heard in your life – the ones that made you laugh out loud, brought tears to your eyes or elicited a happy sigh after reaching the end. What is it about storytelling that evokes these emotional responses and causes us to remember them for years on end? I know I can recall details of family trips, Grandma’s famous recipes and Grandpa’s scariest yarns. Storytelling utilizes a specific formula to entice us to pay closer attention, and the stories that make the deepest impact are the ones that resonate most personally with each of us.

Focus and direction are key to revenue gains.

To beat your competition, accentuate what sets you apart from them. Don’t let your company get distracted from what matters and what works for your creative vision. Maintain a laser focus to achieve your goals.

60-Second Articles:
1. Avoid the sandbox
2. Shiny Object Syndrome vs. sound strategy
3. The 60-Second Close: The importance of direction

Let PR help you navigate the business world’s social network

Your company probably already has a Facebook page and maybe even a decent Twitter following. However, if you’re not taking full advantage of LinkedIn, your company could be missing out on making a good impression with potential business allies and prospects.

LinkedIn provides the most unique, effective method of branding your company within the business community and even finding top talent for open positions. Its research suggests that posting to LinkedIn frequently can significantly increase your chances of engaging your target audiences. Use the following tools and tips to get maximum impact from LinkedIn.

Join the public relations webinar that will demonstrate why your company needs CNN’s attention

Obtaining national media coverage for your company takes hard work, persistence and knowing the right people, but the benefits far outweigh all the effort. Pitching to a specific national news outlet like CNN takes special know-how. Watch the webinar now!

Discussions will include how companies and public relations firms can increase the chances that CNN will accept their pitches and what the producers are really looking for in those pitches. If you have not already put CNN on your media list, knowing more about the news giant might change your mind.

PR insiders tell when the best day is to send press releases

Many organizations get hung up on the same quandary: When do you send out your most important news to the media to ensure that it doesn’t get lost amid the noise? For years, public relations veterans have debated this topic, suggesting that, for example, poor earnings news should go out after market close on Friday in an effort to decrease the potential of the news getting reported. Others maintain that Wednesdays are a slower-than-average news day during which the press trolls for good news items to scoop.

So, what day is the best day to announce your latest whiz-bang gizmo that will change the world? Any business day you pick will be a fine day, and here’s why

As fall soldiers on, anticipation of end-of-year holidays begins to mount, and alongside the anticipation comes a healthy dose of panic for employers seeking seasonal holiday help. Retailers, shippers and the like increase their workforces from October through January in preparation for round-the-clock positions needing to be filled. Already, UPS has reported seasonal hiring efforts to likely fill more than 90,000 positions. That number of jobs can be incredibly relevant to businesses that depend on seasonal support. But how do they fill those slots as readily as is required to meet the demand? 

Let PR experts help you understand why your results may not be matching up

You perform a Google search and find your company at the top of the page with glowing reviews. Your customer conducts the same exact search and gets entirely different results (or vice versa). What gives?

Trying to understand Google analytics and search engine optimization rules can make your head spin. Use our PR firm to guide you through the ins and outs of the world’s most influential search engine.

When organizations consider hiring public relations firms, some use requests for proposals (RFPs) to differentiate between each of them. In an RFP, an organization can ask for everything from vendor background and special areas of expertise to ambitious ideas and rates for proposal execution. RFPs are, as a rule, highly informative documents.

Axia Public Relations has received countless RFPs both from established businesses and startup companies. We definitely understand the value of RFPs to the requesting companies, but from a PR agency’s perspective, these documents, when sent blindly, can be relatively useless. RFPs, while sometimes honestly used to pursue work with PR firms, are also overused as a means of determining the going rates for PR services or, worse, to solicit free ideas or tactical concepts. PR firms therefore tend to be leery of RFPs and here’s why

Gain a better understanding of PR to make the right choice for your company

Anyone can hang out a shingle and call himself a PR firm. However, the ability to write and string more than two sentences together does not a PR professional make.

Since the field of PR is still often misunderstood, most people don’t know the difference between a high-quality PR agency and the fly-by-night outfit down the street. In addition, they don’t know what skills and certifications to look for in their PR advisers.