The Public Relations Blog

Be a better resource for the media

As newsrooms continue to shrink, they rely more and more on their reporters to write for print and online as well as take their own photos and videos. With reporters doing more, newspapers also rely on PR professionals and a company’s PR and marketing department to submit stories – in an inverted pyramid style – and images for publication. 

Story ideas and submissions are relatively easy to provide to a media outlet. Many companies struggle with submitting photos that newspapers and magazines will and can use. Here are some tips that will help you and your team submit quality photos the media will use. 

Our PR agency created this 20-step process for getting earned media coverage for your company

We’ve previously discussed what earned media is and its role in public relations. However, knowing about earned media is one thing, and doing it is another. For someone unfamiliar with this process, it can seem almost impossible to know where to begin and how to get through it. However, there is help.

At Axia Public Relations, we’ve developed our own system for earned media we’d like to share with you. Here is a visual chart showing how we do things and an explanation of each step.

Newsroom veteran shares the roles and how of getting a story on TV

Throughout my 20 years in TV and radio newsrooms, I’ve received many calls from PR professionals. It’s clear some don’t know their way around a newsroom. So let me provide you with a roadmap because there is no better way to get your story ignored than pitching it to the wrong contact.

Virtual press conferences are great ways to reach your audience safely

The way we communicate is ever-evolving and as technology improves, people are finding more ways to share messages on a broader scale to reach numerous audiences.

One way is through virtual press conferences. 

Virtual press conferences are cost-effective and allow reporters and news outlets to attend safely from the comfort of their homes or offices. 

These elements can make your pitch soar if used correctly

Pitching a story to the media is a key public relations component. It is almost a specialty onto its own, filled with various pitfalls that can make your pitches fall flat the moment you first start the pitch — that is, if you do them incorrectly.

Although many consider the content of a pitch when developing one, what gets overlooked is time and pitching. Both the time you make a pitch at and how long it takes to make your pitch are vital to a successful pitch. These two factors are some of the key ingredients that can make or break a pitch’s success. 

Use the three tips below to make sure you’re pitching at the right time and have the right length.

There’s no time like the present to grow your company’s outreach

Did you know that positive news coverage helps to improve your construction company’s reputation? It also helps to place your company at the forefront of many of your prospective customers’ minds.

Far too often, customers don’t know which company to turn to when they have a construction need because all of them seem the same. Luckily, earned media coverage assists in creating a thought leader and puts your company at the forefront of people’s minds when they need to make a building and construction decision. 

Say you’ve tried to get your company in the news, such as print, online, or broadcast coverage, without luck. We’re here to help!

Public relations software is one of the many important tools for earning media coverage

Every week a prospective client, PR agency peer, or another PR professional asks us:
“what's the best solution for a U.S. news media contact database?”

It’s not an easy answer. It’s like asking “what’s the best automobile?” 

At Axia, we've tried them all. And the simple answer is each has their pros and cons.

Earned media is the coverage your company gets without paying for it. This isn’t done through self-promotion or advertisements nor posting news releases on PR newswires.

Earned media shouldn’t be confused with paid media, which would be paying influencers or running social media ads. It is distinctly different from owned media as well, which is the attention your company’s website attracts.

Sending a perfect media pitch can feel like a balancing act. Structure and timing are everything. To avoid becoming a mere drop in an ocean of emails, here are nine media pitching tips directly from journalists, according to PR software Muck Rack’s research.

Tell stories instead of just stating facts.

Imagine you’ve finally got a good pitch ready to send to the media. You’re well prepared, and now it’s time to get that phone call done. Despite hitting it off with the media contact, your contact ultimately declines to run the story. What happened? You did everything right; you had the main point and some facts to go with it to give context.