Half-day PR training courseHOW TO DO YOUR OWN PRCreate a workable PR plan for your organisation in an afternoonSupported by the Sussex Business Times Course in briefThis practical half-day course is for small and medium-sized organisations that want to gain more media coverage - but have limited budget and time for PR work. You will learn key PR skills and develop an effective outline PR plan for your own organisation. Date: Wednesday 29 September 2010. Venue: Conference Centre, University of Sussex, Brighton. Price: £195 + £34.13VAT = £229.13 per place. Attend if you are...- Small business proprietor/manager handling own PR
PA/secretary with responsibility for PR PR officer of public body or not-for-profit organisation In-house public relations executive or assistant Marketing communications executive or assistant
What you gainAfter attending the course, you will be able to: - Plan a PR campaign that supports your company's objectives
Ensure time spent on PR work gets results Discover PR opportunities in your company you never knew were there Develop a list of media contacts for your own company Contact journalists professionally and make your case effectively Write press releases that get published Develop online PR priorities and activity for your company Measure the business benefit you gain from PR work
About the coursePublic relations can deliver huge business benefits for your company when it's effectively used. You can generate media coverage worth thousands of pounds, help to position your business or organisation positively in the minds of the public - and generate leads which turn into new customers, clients or members. Some companies pay hundreds of thousands of pounds a year to PR agencies to do this work for them. But not every organisation - especially small and medium-sized companies and not-for-profit bodies - can afford PR agency fees. Many smaller companies want to do PR but can't - or find what they do is ineffective - either because they don't have the in-house skills or because they simply don't have time to fit it in with other work. How to do Your Own PR is a half-day course specifically designed to solve just those problems. The course provides you with the basic skills you need to carry out effective PR activity - and the word effective is important, because most PR activity is ineffective, background noise that makes no impact. At How to do Your Own PR you'll learn a toolbox of essential PR skills. And, during the afternoon, you'll create an outline PR plan which you can take back to your company and put to work right away. How to do Your Own PR will show you how to use the time you spend on PR effectively. As little as two hours a week doing the right things can yield more high-quality PR coverage than days spent on elaborate PR stunts that don't come off. The emphasis in the How to do Your Own PR course is on practical information rather than theory. So you find out how you can make sure that PR actually helps to further your organisation's key objectives. You discover what works and what doesn't in media relations. You gain new skills such as how to write a press release, build a media list and contact journalists professionally - even how to plan an online PR campaign. How to do Your Own PR is packed with scores of insider tips on how to get better results from your PR work so that you can return to your organisation and use them to gain an immediate boost in your media coverage. Course programmeLesson 1: What makes PR work - and what doesn'tIf you're going to do your own PR, the last thing you want is to waste your valuable time on stuff that has no impact. So in this lesson, we start by looking at what works and what doesn't in PR. You'll find out how to use your time productively and you'll learn some short-cuts that will enable you to generate some "quick wins" as soon as you start your PR campaign. And as part of your work in putting together a PR plan for your company, you'll start to identify the best ways to reach those potential customers through PR. Lesson 2: Setting your own PR objectivesYou certainly won't achieve results if you don't define your PR objectives at the outset. So in this lesson, you'll find out about the different kinds of PR objectives you might want to set for your firm. You'll find out how to get organised so that you can fit the PR work into your busy schedule. And with expert guidance, you'll start to build a PR calendar for your organisation. Lesson 3: Discover the hidden PR potential of your companyYour company is probably sitting on more PR opportunities than you realise. In this lesson, you'll find out how to discover - and exploit - those hidden PR possibilities. You'll get a list of 152 different ways you can look for PR material in your organisation and you will start to identify the ones that look like they could have big potential for generating great PR coverage for your company. Lesson 4: How to develop your own media contactsBut having great PR stories is no use if you don't know where to use them. So in this lesson, you'll discover how to identify the key media outlets and journalists that could be really important for your company. You'll learn some secrets about where to find the direct phone numbers of key journalists. And you'll start to compile a list of key media contacts for your own company. Tea breakYou'll need it! This isn't a course for people who want a quiet afternoon out of the office. It's an intensive planning session for those who want to launch a successful PR campaign for their company. Lesson 5: The inside track on contacting journalistsAn average journalist gets 215 press releases a week as well as 51 e-mails or phone calls from PR people pitching articles, interviews or press conferences. Some journalists get many more. So it's vital you contact journalists in a way which gets them listening to what you say - rather than hanging up or hitting the delete key on your e-mail. In this session, you'll learn some insider tips about what journalists want you to do when you approach them with a PR idea. And you'll start to apply what you've learnt to a key PR opportunity within your own company. Lesson 6: How to write a press releaseThe press release is the most used (journalists might say over-used) tool in the PR tool-box. But the vast majority of press releases never make ink in a newspaper or magazine. So in this lesson, you'll be shown a seven-step method that will enable you to write a press release that editors will take seriously. (That's because it uses the same techniques journalists use when they write news stories.) The method explodes some of the myths about press releases - and it works because it provides just what editors want. Lesson 7: Make your mark with online PRNo company these days can ignore the vast new opportunities of online PR. But there are so many of them on the internet and with social media that you can waste days doing things that have little impact - or actively damage your company with poorly thought-out or managed activity. In this lesson, you'll discover some of the key options you need to consider about online PR and start to draw up an outline plan to incorporate online into your company's PR activity. Lesson 8: 10 ways to measure PR successEvery business activity needs to be measured to ensure that it's delivering real benefit - and PR activity is no different. In this lesson, you'll find out about 10 ways - from the simple to the sophisticated - you can use to measure the impact of the new PR coverage you'll be generating after this course. And you'll have a final chance to ask any questions before you leave for the afternoon - enthused to generate great PR for your company. Course materialsThe How to do Your Own PR course comes complete with a set of outstanding course materials that are designed to help you build on your new-found PR skills even after the course is over. You receive a course pack which contains: The How to do Your Own PR Workbook and Course Notes. This 60-page Workbook is exclusive to people attending the course. The Workbook contains a comprehensive set of notes covering the main points of the course and, critically, provides templates for you to start planning your own company's PR campaign. The Workbook is a unique resource and remains a permanent reminder of the course content - and a valuable planning document and source of reference - long after the course has finished.
How to Make Your Case in the Media. This book, by course presenter Peter Bartram (with Colin Coulson-Thomas) is a 159-page paperback that provides a practical guide on how to develop story ideas that the media will be interested in hearing about - and then put them across in interviews. The book contains 62 checklists that you'll use again and again. ("This book does just what it says on the cover - it sets out to help people who find themselves being interviewed by either print or broadcast journalists... For those organisations that are not able to provide their people with media training, the book is a useful instruction kit." - Education Marketing and PR Association).
Course presenters' profilePeter Bartram Peter Bartram has a lifetime's experience in journalism as both an editor of newspapers and magazines and a versatile writer. At some stage in his career, Peter has written for practically every area of the press - national newspapers, business magazines, local newspapers, consumer press as well as trade and technical publications. He was the first ever editor of the Sussex Business Times. He has also appeared in many radio and television news and current affairs programmes. As a result, he is in a unique position to advise on what works (and what doesn't) when targeting material at individual publications.
Peter is the author of 21 books, including eight on business communications and public relations which have won wide praise from media commentators. He is a member of the Society of Authors and the London Press Club. He regularly advises marketing and public relations professionals on how to target their PR material so that it makes the maximum impact with the media. Apart from his work as a busy journalist, Peter is an experienced public speaker and presenter and has devised and run media training events, including the Press Release Masterclass, the Perfect Pitch Masterclass, the Perfect Interview Masterclass and the Writing for Publication Masterclass, which have already been attended by more than 600 people. What people say...A small selection from the dozens of testimonials about Peter Bartram's training courses: - "Thank you so much! I walked away feeling much more confident and I look forward to putting my training to the test." - Jenny Hogan, press officer, Kinleigh Folkard and Hayward
- "What a full and fantastic course. A lifetime's worth of knowledge in an afternoon. Beautifully prepared course materials, and very enjoyable practicals - it's great. That session provided more clear value than any other training I've attended in the industry over the years." - Neil Boom, PR director, One News Page
- "This is the first course I've been on that has answered my need for a clear, concise 'rule book'. I think the checklists are great!" - Rebecca Hirst, PR and communications executive, First Direct
- "Peter was an excellent presenter and it was great to get his opinion considering his long experience as a journalist." - Jane Wakefield, press and communications manager, Research Councils UK
- "Just to let you know I am very grateful for your Press Release Masterclass. When I sent off my last press release, on the lack of ethics in the restaurant business, The Guardian picked it up and seem to have copied and pasted it. Apart from a couple of sentences, it really was my press release that they had made into an article." - Hanna Backman, writer/researcher, Ethical Consumer
- "Excellent afternoon. Time well spent. Thank you." - Chris Foster, media officer, The Scout Association
- "It was great. I came back, and remain, inspired." - Jacqui Thomasen, corporate events and communications manager, Ashridge
- "Very informative and well presented. Worth travelling far for." Georgina Key, Membership and Publications Co-ordinator, ACAD
- "I found it very valuable and liked how you have organised every process in easy-to-follow steps." - Samantha Whitaker, Royal Over-Seas League
In-house coursesIf you have several people who would like to attend a How to do Your Own PR course, why not book an in-house session at your own offices? We can run in-house sessions for a minimum of three participants. The fee for an in-house Masterclass is based on the number of participants: three, £495; four, £645; five, £795; six, £895; seven, £995; eight, £1,095; nine, £1,195; 10, £1,245. (All prices quoted plus VAT and travelling expenses at cost.) For other numbers or to hold the Masterclass at an alternative location, please ask for quotation. If you would like to book an in-house How to do Your Own PR course, or like further information:
Booking information
How to do your own PR Wednesday, 29th September 2010 Venue: Conference Centre, University of Sussex, Falmer, East Sussex BN1 9QU
(Nearest station: Falmer)
£195.00 + £34.13 VAT = £229.13
Booking form
|
