As PR professionals we spend a lot of time learning journalistic techniques and rules to demonstrate to reporters that, even though we may not have a journalism degree, we follow their unparallel dedication to the craft. In Journalism 101, a student begins to learn about AP Style (Associated Press). This is the writing standard to which all journalists adhere to…and you should too.

It is also what public relations professionals should adhere to as well if you want to be taken seriously. Sometimes clients don’t understand why we use Calif. for California instead of the postal abbreviate of CA. AP style is the reason why.

Here are some simple tips to make your news release professional in the eyes of a journalist.

States

• STANDING ALONE: Spell out the names of the 50 U.S. states when they stand alone in textual material.
• EIGHT NOT ABBREVIATED: The names of eight states are never abbreviated in datelines or text: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah.

Titles

• Capitalize formal titles when used immediately before a name. Lowercase formal titles when used alone or in constructions that set them off from a name by commas. (i.e. “…said Shelby Kraus, vice president of public relations.”)
• Use lowercase at all times for terms that are job descriptions rather than formal titles.

Numerals

• Spell out first through ninth when they indicate sequence in time or location: first base, the First Amendment, he was first in line.
• Starting with 10th use figures: she sold 10 pineapples.

Here are a few words to watch when you are writing as well.

• Regardless, not irregardless
• Loose instead of lose
• Preventative vs. preventive
• Expecially vs. especially
• Wary vs. Weary
• Advice vs. Advise
• Assure in lieu of ensure
• Supposedly vs. supposably
• Titled vs. entitled.

You may think it is too much work to follow special rules created by the journalism community, but I have seen editors throw away news releases because they are unprofessional in their mind. To stay on top of the game, you may want to subscribe to the AP Stylebook (a guide to writing like a journalist) online at apstylebook.com.

Photo Credit: Flickr user wwarby

Let’s begin by saying I’m not a fan of reality shows. Obviously the networks love them because they’re cheap to produce (no Charlie Sheen-sized salaries) and they’re disposable (anyone remember “Amish in the City” or “Sorority Life?”). Plus, to me, having Snookie and the Kardashians elevated to the level of “stars” is beyond absurd.

But I have to confess there are two reality shows I find fascinating, probably because they’re so remarkably different and yet so remarkably the same.

The first is the AMC’s new series “The Pitch”… a behind-the-scenes look at the unique agency culture, and what actually goes on as two rival advertising agencies lock horns in a sudden-death competition to capture a new client. With only seven days from assignment to presentation, it’s intense, hard work for every team member. Nerves and emotions are tested, and every ounce of experience and talent is tapped as they look to find the big idea … the one that the prospect will find attractive, even irresistible.

It all leads up to the actual presentation, where they have to shelve their fears and find the energy to passionately sell their ideas to an often wary prospect. Then, it’s either total elation or utter despair when the client makes their selection on which agency has hooked their business, and which one, after all their time and effort, will see the prize slip through their fingers.

It’s work that’s exhilarating and rewarding, yet often vicious, discouraging and agency life-threatening.

The second is the series “Swamp People.” Its about people who live and work in the Louisiana bayou, specifically, about guys who make their living hunting alligators. (See, I told you they were different.) It’s all wrapped in the Cajun culture that’s built on the “deep-rooted traditions of a unique, hard-working people.”

The first Wednesday in September, alligator season in Louisiana begins and it lasts only 30 days. In this brief time, competing teams of hunters must earn most of their yearly income by capturing their limit of alligators. It’s a high risk occupation that depends on the skill and experience of the hunter and the whims of weather.

They’re always on the hunt, seeking the best location, then placing a hook with a hopefully irresistible bait and the goal of capturing the biggest, most dominant alligator possible.

(See, I told you they were the same.)

Hard working teams, fearlessly trying to capture “the big one” … in a job that’s exhilarating and rewarding, yet often vicious, discouraging and life-threatening.

And in both, as alligator hunter Troy says … “No guts, no gator.”

It’s a well known yet seldom followed saying – “Practice what you preach.”  But when we considered the prospect of rebranding HRB, we knew we had to follow ourselves the same advice we preach to our clients … that the most objective and ultimately most valuable branding efforts are done with the direction of an experienced outside advisor. You can’t read the label from inside the bottle, right?

After over 15 years with the same “label,” a logo we affectionately call “Herb” because its three letters also resemble a face, it felt like the time was right to go through our own rebranding effort. When Herb was first designed and put to work as the face of HRB, our company and the business of advertising was considerably different. Traditional media – TV, radio, print – was still king. The Internet was in its marketing infancy. The iPad, iPhone and Droid were only the distant dreams of Silicone Valley tech heads. Twitter and Facebook? Mark Zuckerberg was still playing video games in grade school.

It’s a vastly changed world now. Digitally-based, incredibly fast moving, with websites considered as the first point of brand contact instead of merely an afterthought … and handheld devices putting the power of brand engagement in the hands of millions of consumers.

To acknowledge those big changes in our industry, we decided to make a small but important change for ourselves. So we engaged the services of FUEL, a talented group of strategically-minded designers, to rethink and redesign our logo and visual brand. We vowed to be good clients and provide them with all the input they requested (which was a lengthy process), then ultimately, trust their thinking and their visual concept for our brand. Frankly, it was nice to be on the client side for once.

What you see here, the new logo, colors and look is a result of that collaboration. For us, it’s an important reminder of the new thinking we need to consider and then deliver every day. To our clients, it’s a reminder that brands aren’t static entities that can rest on their laurels. To Herb, it means a well-deserved retirement.

Wherever he is today, traveling the world or spending his pension at a casino in Branson, Herb can be confident our new logo stands for the same product we truly care about delivering … growing our clients’ brands to grow their business.

Getting a different perspective can provide additional insight into the matter. Photo credit: Roadtrip North of Salta: kaartje voor mn neefje by mansszat

Let’s face it. We’re all consumers. We interact with hundreds if not thousands of brands each day. Each interaction we have, whether it’s with a customer service rep, a website or a product we are using for the first time, shapes our perception of the brand, our feelings of affinity or dislike, and our likelihood that we’re going to use that brand again.

When we work with clients on building their brand, we start with customer research. Research is critically important because although a company can do many things to shape their brand, your brand is ultimately decided by your consumers. We work with many B to B clients so I often don’t get the opportunity to interact with a client’s brand from a customer viewpoint. However, I had just that opportunity recently.

I was able to tour a client’s facility and their major competitor’s facility as a potential customer. I took the tour, asked the same questions of both, and noted how I was greeted, what information was provided to me, knowledge of the employees, and overall feelings I was left with from each experience. What I found was enlightening. Our client’s brand is all about providing a personal, exceptional experience. However, staff didn’t smile or greet us. They were cordial, but not exceptional, which is what I expected from their brand promise. In contrast, their competitor made me feel more welcomed and valued. The competitor asked me questions about what I was interested in and then provided me with relevant information. They listened to me, made it more personal and all about me. I was surprised to find that I had a superior experience not with my client, but with the competitor.

The good news is that our client is open to this feedback and already has plans in place to improve their process and the customer experience. Don’t ever underestimate the power of your customers and the value you can find by experiencing your brand from their perspective.

My mom died of cancer when I was three years old. I didn’t understand the full magnitude of it until I became an adult and realized just how young 28 is to die. I probably still don’t fully understand, but as I grow in age and experience, I’m beginning to fully understand how precious each day of life is.

Cancer is one of the most profound, devastating and pervasive diseases in the U.S. I don’t know anybody that hasn’t been touched by it in some way.  Cancer numbers are growing, but so are survival rates as new and better detection methods and treatments are developed. I get to work with Mercy Medical Center, which is in the process of building the Hall-Perrine Cancer Center – an amazing new facility that will provide world-class cancer care to Eastern Iowans. Equipped with the latest technology, dedicated staff, and amenities based on what patients and their families have said is critical to the treatment and recovery process, it will be an invaluable resource to current and future cancer patients.

Over the past 6 months, HRB has collaborated with Mercy to develop a marketing campaign to launch the center and promote the unique benefits it will provide.  This campaign was built from the ground up, just like the center. We gathered input from Mercy and from patients and potential patients and developed concepts and themes around what they told us was important. The various creative executions were tested in focus groups and one rose to the top. “Expectations Met” is the name of our campaign and provides a promise of what the center will deliver: world-class, personalized cancer care.

Over the summer, we worked with a talented production crew out of Minneapolis to bring the campaign to life. We shot the TV spots over four days in locations all over town.  We developed radio, print ads, outdoor boards, building signage and Internet marketing campaigns designed to drive patients and potential patients to a new, focused Hall-Perrine Cancer Center website.  The campaign launched the last week in September, just in time for breast cancer awareness month.

I’m in advertising. My job is to create preference for brands and motivate customers to buy from my clients. This is extremely important; however, I’ve never been involved with something as personal to me as this. Having the opportunity to be a part of something that is truly meaningful to so many is incredibly fulfilling and an experience I will never forget.

A site that’s online isn’t much of a site unless people go to it. The raw website visitor stats that services like Analytics and Quantcast provide sometimes aren’t enough for gauging the traffic flow to a site. A “link” is a fundamental way in which visitors reach a site, and direct links (typing in the web address) and search engines are the two other ways. Of course, there’s “good company” and “bad company” online that could be linking to you. I’m not going to discuss right & wrong in this article, but I will go over how to be more aware of one factor that affects all sites… backlinks.

Which method is best?

There’s a few different ways to find who’s linking to a site. Some are tools made available by search engines like Google while some are various services that are available online.

Google’s link: command (perfect for URL-specific stats)

Using link: as part of a Google search will list the webpages that have links to that specified webpage. For instance, link:www.google.com will list webpages that have links pointing to the Google homepage. Note there can be no space between the “link:” and the web page url. It’s also important to know that this finds the backlinks for that one URL, and doesn’t provide matches for every URL on the site. By the way, you can use the number of matches below the search box to get a rough number for assessing the online penetration of that webpage.

Google Webmaster Tools (perfect for site-wide stats)

As part of Google’s Webmaster Tools, they have “Your site on the web” => “Links to your site” in the side navigation that shows backlink stats for a site as a whole. Essentially, this provides:

• A list of sites and what pages they’re linking to
• Which page is being linked to the most
• The terms being used for the links
• and you can get fairly granular with each data set

Everything else

The above methods obviously depend on what Google has indexed, and similar tools are available using Bing and other search engines so one can diversify their data set. There’s also a great service from SEOmoz called Open Site Explorer that’s worth looking into.Unfortunately, searching for a tool that accumulates these stats resulted in finding a lot of adware/junk sites so your mileage may vary depending on the service being used.

Knowing who’s linking to a site a good way to understand what sort of company that site is involved with, and this can be helpful when working with the public relations & marketing for a website. It’s also a decent way to see what others are saying about a particular site, but do keep in mind that this is just one way that websites establish a connection with one another.

It's not really worth your time to avoid an issue.

It’s been a few years since I entered the PR world (well, more than a few) and I had forgotten what it is like to be new to the field. I was speaking to a former intern the other day and she asked what advice do I have for a budding PR professional. I pondered this for a bit, but off the top of my head, here are a few nuggets:

1. Be a sponge – read up on your employer’s business and the industry so that you can get a good foot hold on what you will be up against in the competitive landscape.
2. Get to know the product or service inside and out – spend time with product managers, the sales team and any executive that will talk to you about the product or service. Find out why they were developed in the first place and where they want to take them.
3. Write, write and then write some more – everyone is going to have his or her materials edited. Don’t take it personally. One of the best assets a PR professional can have is his or her writing skills.
4. Pay attention to detail – you may think this is just in writing, but it is not. You are now in a professional world and much like your professors there are protocols to what you develop and deliver to your supervisor. Don’t be sloppy. Everyone at the company is a client and you need to present your research, writing, strategies, ideas, etc. in a clear and concise manner that is formatted professionally.
5. Make sure your enthusiasm for new media stays in line with corporate philosophy – you may be very excited to assist with social media or mobile public relations, but keep your passion in check if your employer is skittish about it. Rome was not built in a day and if you take the right approach, in time, you will get to expand your company’s presences.
6. Never stop learning – keep filling your toolkit with new skills and teach others too.

Landing your first public relations position is very exciting. Remember, that the classroom is not a clone of how the real business world operates. It is like an incubator, preparing your for the next chapter in your career. Have fun and stay inquisitive!

Marketing that defines brands and drives business growth. That’s how we describe what Henry Russell Bruce does for its clients.

Are You Converting Your Leads Into Sales?

Do you have an established sales funnel that generates leads on a consistent basis? Do you have a database for email marketing? Are you able to convert any leads from trade shows to sales? Do you use offers, such as white papers, reports, contests, Pay Per Click or email marketing campaigns to draw visitors to your site? Do you have forms in place to capture data on visitors to your website? Could you use materials or program development for your dealer network? If not, HRB can help.

You Know Your Website Needs a Redesign When …

1. Your site looks like a brochure and does not generate any leads.
2. There is no offer or call to action on your site.
3. Your site has not been optimized for keywords visitors use to find services like yours.
4. No one on your staff can make changes without calling the guy who designed it.
5. Your site is not optimized for the rapidly growing volume of mobile devices.

Are You Getting Your Share of Free Media Coverage?

Ever wonder why your competitors show up everywhere online and in the trade industry media and get all the attention? It’s usually because they have launched a public relations campaign to build awareness of their company and its products. Repeated coverage in business and industry media builds credibility and keeps a company top of mind. How can you start a PR program to generate free coverage? We’ll explain step-by-step how to get started with creating awareness and media coverage for your company.

We’re grateful for the iPhone and iPad app for Cover it Live. Texas Governor Rick Perry addresses the national media and some 60 D. C. Taylor Co. employees Tuesday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Maximizing a PR Opportunity

The HRB public relations team got a chance to flex its media relations muscles this week and to help a client capitalize on a rare event.

Just three days after announcing his candidacy for the U. S. presidency, Texas Governor Rick Perry visited our client D. C. Taylor Co. Tuesday morning in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, his only stop in the city. D. C. Taylor Co., one of the 20 largest commercial roofing companies in the nation, learned about the visit just last week. Out of thousands of companies in the city, Perry’s advance team chose this one to introduce the candidate in person in the intimate setting of a roofing warehouse. Perry’s wife and two daughters were there, too.

We met with our client late last week to discuss what we could do to promote the event to benefit the client. We decided that the client would want to capture this and create a video and media package and to provide live coverage of the entire event on Cover it Live. To house the Cover it Live feed, HRB had to create a landing page on their website. So there would be more relevant content for D. C. Taylor customers, HRB set out to repurpose educational materials and created an eBook, and designed a banner for the homepage to direct visitors to the see the coverage and comment. Additionally, we helped create an email notification to the company’s opt-in list to notify them over the live coverage. We developed a media brief to hand out and send out to the media and an updated news release is going out Tuesday afternoon recounting details of the events to customers and prospects and the trade media.

During the hour-long event, we feed photos and text to an HRB team member who posted the material in real time. A news release went out to the client’s trade publications and out to the rest o the world via PRWeb. Dozens of people signed on to the Cover it Live account to follow the event and comment on it.

Most exciting for our client was the list of media that showed up for the event, including:

• Reuters
• Associated Press
• NBC National
• CBS Evening News
• The Gazette
• ABC National
• ABC Evening News
• Des Moines Register
• CBS Local
• Republican Caucus
• Dallas Morning News
• New York Times
• KCRG
• World Magazine

Their website traffic has doubled due to our efforts. The client is happy with the event support we provided. And , just as importantly, we all had fun with it.

Are you maximizing your public relations opportunities at every turn?

DJs are a totally different type of "spin doctor", but they too know the importance of a "hook".

One of the many reasons HRB is called upon for its PR expertise is because companies are looking for strategic ideas on how to get news out about a product or service. It sounds simple, but there is usually a challenge associated with this request.

Often times, the company has not thought through what the journalist and customer want to know. Why care what the journalist wants to know? Well…they are the first barrier you have to break through if you want the customer to read about you at all. It is always a good idea to consider what makes your story compelling. Is there a national tie? Is there recent research that supports your product or service announcement? Is there a trend in your industry that you are addressing first or bucking?

For the customer, it is best to turn your release into a story about benefits and not just about the features of the product or service. What is the reason you developed (or modified) the product or service? Was it in response to customer requests, was there a problem you fixed?

This is the kind of thinking a third-party professional can bring to the table. Regardless if you see PR professionals as strategists or Spin Doctors, we still know there needs to be a “hook” to get you coverage.