Don't Forget About The Little Guys - Small Press Are Great Targets

In the quest for news coverage with traditional media, social media and blogs, everyone is on the hunt for the big name or "Big Game" media, but many forget or ignore the little guys, and you should never ignore any press.

No matter how small or large, how focused or broad the coverage, how frequent or infrequent, all media are important and need to be on your target press lists. We all know how big and effective stories placed with the Wall Street Journal, Good Morning America, Mashable and Forbes are and can be, but Do Not ignore the small publications and blogs, as they can have a big impact on your clients and their goals.

Small or smaller publications and blogs such as Los Angeles Daily News, EE Times, La Opinión, SocialTimes, Network Computing, FierceMarkets Network, and many more, can be wonderful targets and provide your clients with needed exposure and publicity.

A simple piece of advice, always go after the big game targets, but never forget about the little guy, the smaller publications and blogs.

Pitching Media Around Holidays, What You Need To Know

Media relations is a lot of work, can take time and requires strong communications skills, and a little charm never hurts.

What it also requires is knowing the media, understanding the press, their publication or blog, beat and areas of coverage, topics of interest, and best ways to contact individual media. But, there is another aspect I wanted to talk about as we head into Thanksgiving and the holiday season, and that is media and pitching during the holidays.

Pitching media around holidays can be tricky and there are several holidays in the U.S. when the media are much more busy, short-handed or even unavaiable with many being off for the holidays. The main holidays which can be tough to pitch include Christmas and New Years, Thanksgiving, and the 4th of July. Also, with many still taking their personal time off in August, that month can be tougher than others.

To effectively work with media around these holidays make sure you have a good pitch and something really newsworthy, a really cool or juicy story never hurts. Also, if a news announcement just isn't something that is that awe-inspiring and not related to anything about the holiday or consumers, then you may want to advise your client to hold off making the news announcement until after the holiday, when the press are back in the grind and not worried about getting away for their own holiday time. Another important factor is having backup contacts at outlets, other people covering a space as well as knowing who is picking up news for the person out of the office. This way if you cannot push back the announcement to avoid the holiday, then you know who to go to in place of your usual contacts if they are out for the holiday.

One other thing is you need to be understanding and respect the time and work of the media, especially during holidays, as since many of the newspapers, magazines, broadcast networks, online news sites and blogs are undermanned and look like ghost towns during many of these holidays. So remember that the people you are contacting are trying to fill in and handle beats and news for those out of the office. You really should be understanding regarding how busy the media contacts are during the holidays.

Know your contacts, when and how to pitch them, and know that during the holidays many are out of the office and away for holidays of their own, and be understanding for those covering for them during the holidays and holiday season.

Good luck pitching and have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Top Business Media Sources and Outlets

In PR and media relations there are many categories among the media - Business, Daily, Broadcast, Online, Blogs, etc. - and we wanted to provide a brief look at some of the top, key business media outlets.

Business Media includes magazines, newspapers, broadcast, online news and blogs, focused on the business side of news. The top business media that should be on any PR person's contact list include (but are not limited) to the following list of 15 important business media sources:

1. Wall Street Journal (WSJ)
2. Associated Press (AP)
3. New York Times
4. Financial Times (FT)
5. Businessweek
6. Fortune (part of CNNMoney)
7. Forbes
8. Reuters
9. Business Journals (across U.S. in 41 markets including Los Angeles, Silicon Valley/San Jose, Boston, Austin, Atlanta, etc.)
10. Fast Company
11. Newsweek/The Daily Beast
12. Fox Business
13. Investor's Business Daily
14. CNBC
15. CNNMoney

There are many more business media, small and large, like the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, strategy + business, Business Insider, Inc., MarketWatch, TechCrunch, AllBusiness.com and more, that all should be in your contacts. Also, when working with media it is important to establish a relationship with the media in the local market(s) your clients are based and involved with. Whether New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Silicon Valley or Chicago, or smaller places like Colorado Springs, Raleigh or Louisville, no matter how big or small a city and location, it is very important to establish a presence and the brand in your local market.

When working with these outlets be prepared, know your target and contacts, the angles and sources they like, the beats each reporter covers, and work on building a relationship with as many as you can, it will pay great dividends in the end.

News Announcements - Press Releases, Twitter, Social Media and Social Networking

Making a big splash with your company name and news is important, and a company needs to engage in a comprehensive marketing and branding strategy that includes public relations, media and news announcements.

With the evolving field of public relations, communications and media, as new tools and resources in the areas of social media and social networking such a blogs and corporate blog, Twitter and tweets, and Facebook and LinkedIn status updates, these are wonderful new means of communicating news and are very effective.

Along with the new services offered by social media and social networking is still the long-time and proven, good old fashioned press release and wire services for distribution. Press releases and using distribution services such as Business Wire and PR Web, are highly effective means of pushing your news to target audience and media. The cost is relatively low for local or national distribution, and the using traditional wire services is to this day a highly effective way of announcing news typically with a solid return on the investment.

For news announcements and the distribution of news we recommend utilizing both the social media and traditional media and wire services, as both are very useful and powerful ways of pushing your brand and news out to the public.

Which is Bigger, Better and More Important? Traditional Media or Social Media and Blogs

Over the last year I have been asked by many as to the importance of traditional media compared to social media and social networks.

Which is bigger, better and more important? The answer is... Both.

Some favor one over the other, but the best strategy is to use both to take advantage of every tool and resource available. With some sticking to traditional media, press releases and wire services, and others believing all you need is a Tweet or two and a Facebook post, the truth is those beleiving in only using one or the other are wrong. By using only one or the other you are potentially missing out on audience(s) and market penetration, and this could lead to a lower market share, customer or user base, sales and revenue stream.

With public relations and media what counts most is results. With the new age of social media making big moves in the digital world of today, along with the strength of traditional media, press releases, wire services and good old fashioned distribution, the best strategy really is to use both. Once you have determined company goals and objectives, as you build the marketing and PR plan, implement the tools that will be most beneficial for your client. For each campaign and project you should use a combination of both traditional and social media, using every aspect of PR tools and services online and offline. In some cases you may determine that traditional is more important than social media or vice versa, but with many using both will be the most effective way of meeting goals and increasing market share and revenue. Using all available resources and tools increases the chance of success and quantifiable results.

When it comes to traditional and social media they are all important and should all be included, and by prioritizing the list with main focus given to your top key targets you can take advantage of both traditional and social media. Traditional media includes: print, daily and broadcast such as Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Businessweek, NBC News, etc. Social Media includes: blogs and bloggers, online news, podcasts and use of social media and social networks such as TechCrunch, Mashable, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Digg, and more.

Don't become a creature of habit and ignore either the new or the old traditional ways, as both can be very effective and when it comes to getting results and success, embrace every possible way of meeting your clients goals and objectives.

Knowing and Understanding the Media: The Key to Successful Media Relations and Story Placements

Over the years many people have asked me what is it that makes a PR campaign a success, and what is the best way to handle media and media relations?

My answer is simple and very important:
Know and understand the media. Know who the media are, identify the appropriate reporters, editors, writers, producers and bloggers, and understand their beat and coverage. Know how they prefer to be contacted, by email, phone, Twitter, etc.? Understand them by researching their beat and stories they have written for last 6 months to year. Know them and know their beat, what they cover, and if you have a chance ask them what they are most interested in.

By knowing and understand media, what they like or don't like, how to pitch them or how not to pitch them, you will be far more successful with media and story placements.

Maxima PR Launches PR Services For Foreign Companies Looking To Break Into The U.S. Market

Maxima Public Relations launches new agency Monday, November 7 2011.

PR Firm Serves Up America with a Savvy Social Media Punch

Maxima PR, a veteran marketing and public relations team today launched new services aimed at tapping new revenue sources in Europe and around the world.  Maxima PR redefines public relations with a savvy combination of traditional full-range PR services and new social media communications strategies, tailored to meet the needs of foreign companies looking to build a strong presence in the United States...

See full release via Business Wire at: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20111107005042/en/Maxima-PR-Launches-PR-Services-Foreign-Companies