Be Ready for Your Close-up — How to Capitalize on PR Opportunities

By Debi Hammond, CEO

There is a saying among marketers: “Advertising you pay for and public relations you pray for.”

After all, anyone with a knack for negotiating and a decent-sized budget can buy advertising. To garner great press coverage, you need vision and the ability to create and seize opportunities.

Often these opportunities are few and far between. So when they do arise, you want to be sure to capitalize on them quickly and with a well-crafted message. The news media look for great visuals and compelling sound bites. So, it’s imperative that you deliver both.

We once had a client appear on CNN; filming took six hours yet the appearance was edited down to one minute — yes, 60 seconds. It was a great interview, and certainly illustrates the importance of preparation and on-point messaging.

Whether it’s your local newspaper, business publication, TV station, the Wall Street Journal or Good Morning America — when it’s your time to shine, you need to be prepared. After all, your “15 minutes of fame” will likely be more like 15 seconds.

So what can you do to ensure that you’re ready for “prime time?”

Business owners and professionals know their products and services so well they often think they can go into an interview and simply “wing it.” But you probably won’t be asked back for another interview or become a resource for those editors or reporters. If you don’t prepare, the likelihood is that you’ll be an average interviewee and the media will continue to look for their ‘go-to’ resource elsewhere. So how can you prepare for your next ‘big role?’

Read Debi’s public relations tips in her Sacramento Business Journal column here: http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/print-edition/2014/08/29/be-ready-for-your-close-up.html?page=all