The 10 Commandments of the PR World
College Sports Information Directors of America
A reference list for PR professionals on how to relate to the media to improve exposure and maintain your reputation.
read online: The 10 Commandments of the PR World, blog entry from the 10 Yetis public relations firm, located in the UK.
image courtesy of Shutterstock
Whether your PR background is in-house or within an agency, or even if you’re just a start-up that has chosen to handle your own PR for a while, there are certain rules that must be followed when braving a phone conversation with a journalist or even just in your day-to-day life as a flack.
In an ideal world, journalists and PRs would all be the best of friends; getting coverage would be as easy as saying “run this for me, would you?” and everyone would live happily ever after in a world full of cuttings and SEO links for clients. Of course, that’s not always the case.
Sometimes, getting client mentions can be like waiting for a bus; you get nothing for a while and then cuttings come flooding in, whilst at other times, coverage just comes naturally. To maximise your chances of getting exposure for your client and, to help improve and maintain your reputation as a PR whizz, there are things that can be done.
With that in mind, I have come up with the 10 commandments I think it’s wise for all PR professionals to follow;
- 1. Thou shall never call a journalist to say ‘did you get my press release?’, then wait for an answer and bid them goodbye.
- 2. Thou shall go the extra mile to secure coverage
- 3. Thou shall live by the ethos ‘reading a newspaper a day keeps angry clients at bay’
- 4. Thou shall consider the idea of press trips and desk visits
Whilst journalists might not like being hassled with pointless phone calls, many are quite open to the idea of being taken out for a bite to eat, or being visited by PRs at their office to discuss clients and ways they might fit with the publication. To be clear, I’m not suggesting you rock up to a publishing house, gatecrash the relevant office and perch confidently on the desk of said journalist. A ten minute chat down in reception is usually sufficient and putting a face to a name usually makes you more memorable.
5. Thou shall go to the ball ...
Well, OK, perhaps not the ball. Here I’m thinking more along the lines of awards. PRs and businesses often miss a trick by not entering clients or themselves into awards. There are so many different awards out there; it seems daft to miss out on the chance of winning one.
And finally, a few commandments that should speak for themselves and, I’d hope, don’t need explaining too much.
- 6. Thou shall remember that journalists are people too (aka. don’t be a scared of them)
- 7. Thou shall never snub a lesser-known journalist at a small publication (they could go on to better things and then they’ll be worth knowing)!
- 8. Thou shall never break a promise to a journalist or client (if you can’t keep your word, don’t give it at all).
- 9. Thou shall be current (keep on top of the media agenda – e.g. don’t issue Christmas stories in February.
- 10. Thou shall remove that journalist from your mailing list (if they ask, just do it)!
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