Big Mistakes In PR That Can Easily Be Avoided

Wanted to discuss today some of the common mistakes made by people and agencies in public relations.

A few of the most common mistakes are actually very simple and easy to avoid, if you just take a little time and have a little knowledge.

1. Overdoing it with the media and contacting them too much. You do not need to contact the media 7 or 8 million times, this annoys them and if you burn a bridge, you may not have a second chance with the person you have harrassed to the point of ignoring you.
2. Making sure you have the right contacts at press outlets. Many times lists are out of date or have everyone at a press outlet on a list. This is not appropriate and you need to research and know who your contacts are for whatever type of story you are pitching. There can be more than one person at a publication, but you need to know who they are, not just randomly contact every reporter at an outlet. This makes you and your agency look like hacks and is not good.
3. One very important rule is to never ever lie to a media person about a company, product or service. We all want to score the meetings and the big stories with Wall Street Journal, New York Times, TechCrunch and Good Morning America, but when you lie you are risking not only your reputation with the media, but the company you represent. I have seen PR agencies and people lie and have warned them about this, and some have found out the hard way what it costs to try and fool the media. You cannot buy your reputation and if you soil your name with someone in the press, it could have a very negative effect on your career.

Just a few simple rules to follow when working with the media, and it is always best to be open, honest, and know your media outlets and contacts. A good PR agency or team lead will make sure their people are doing things the right way, and will educate and assist them on learning and developing in their career and skills, and help them to avoid blunders like those listed above.

Good luck pitching all you hungry PR people.