The Public Relations Blog

Harvard Business Review (HBR) is one of the world’s most respectable sources of information about the latest trends, people and practices that are defining the business world. Published monthly, HBR delivers entrepreneurial ideas and insights that help managers strengthen their leadership power. Every issue guides its readers through strategic decision-making processes in the modern world, introduces innovative leaders and offers suggestions on how to motivate employees.

HBR covers stories about strategy, leadership, organizational change, negotiations, operations, innovations, marketing and finance. Busy executives and business leaders, who are the key audience of the magazine, expect not only to stay on top of new developments in management, but also bring innovative changes into the way their businesses operate. The perfect HBR pitch is an authentic story, not published in any format previously before, written by an academic, who pulled a lot of research together to draw conclusions. The research part is the most essential part of the pitch.

PR helps you keep your CEO happy without sacrificing the company’s image

Your company just hosted a public event with news media all around and your CEO put his foot in his mouth – again. Perhaps he said something insensitive, appeared sweaty and uncomfortable, or gave statements contradictory to the company line. Whatever he did, the end result was that he made your entire organization look bad.

The CEO is most often the public face of a company, and sometimes that face is not the one you want to show to the world. Do you wish you could just keep your CEO away from the media altogether? There are right (and wrong) ways to handle this issue and PR can help.

Use PR to become a leader in your industry

We know the story well: Barack Obama went from a relatively unknown first-term politician to win the hearts and minds of the people and take the presidency of the United States. It was considered by many to be a major PR achievement and is featured in the recently published book Campaigns that Shook the World by Danny Rogers.

Do it right and you could form lasting and lucrative media relationships

Help a Reporter Out is a free service that enables journalists to connect with information sources. If you're an expert and have an interesting opinion or story to share with the media, you can sign up for HARO to get connected to journalist and get your story published, which will ultimately increase traffic to your website and get the word out about your company.

Strong media relations are important to your company’s earned media coverage

Earned media coverage is more credible and resonates with audiences more successfully than advertisements. Media relations is one of the key responsibilities of public relations practitioners. Any company can send out a press release; anyone can email a news correspondent. But building personal relationships with the media is what will make earned media coverage accessible for your organization.

Invite local bloggers to build awareness locally for your national brand

Firehouse Subs is one of America’s leading fast, casual sandwich franchise restaurants. Brothers Chris and Robin Sorensen founded Firehouse Subs in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1994, creating a brand out of their personal history as firefighters. Their company now boasts 903 locations in 43 states and Puerto Rico, with international expansion to Canada and Mexico planned for the near future. How did the franchisor build such an impressive brand and reputation?

Let PR show you how to handle the issue and still have a great event

Are you worried about members of the media attending your next event, shareholder’s meeting or public presentation? You should be; the media are a powerful component of our society. However, while you should be aware of them, you don’t have to fear them.

If there are media in the room, you should be thankful! They are trained and credentialed journalists who are there to get the story right. The truth is that, these days, there’s always media in the room – social media.

Hint: You may need PR more than you realize

Today, your time will likely be filled with meetings with your direct reports to discuss matters of company performance, sales and finance. You may meet with prospective clients, sit in on a team-building session and try to squeeze in some personal and family time. This doesn’t leave much time to focus on PR.

If you think your business-to-business tech company doesn’t need PR, you are missing out on key opportunities to boost your visibility and grow your business.

Businessweek magazine is one of the world’s top business publications, preparing its readers to succeed in today’s complex economy. The magazine focuses on the most important news in finance, technology and economics.

Make PR and positive news your secret weapons to move ahead of the competition

Most companies know that positive media coverage can help with promotion and increased visibility. What you may not know is that media coverage can also improve your online reputation.

With the popularity of online shopping and social media, the first interaction customers are likely to have with your company will be online. Therefore, it is vital to have a stellar online reputation, and PR, along with positive news coverage, can help.