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The how-to-do-it e-newsletter for PR and marketing
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How PR saved a business - and other stories
We take Google for granted these days. Not only to find information we need, but also to drive traffic to our own websites. But what happens if search engine traffic to your website suddenly disappears? For some businesses that might be an inconvenience. For others, it’s a potential disaster in the making.
And one of those was OneNewsPage.com, a global news portal business, which relied heavily on Google-driven site traffic. Until it all dried up. So what did the firm do? If you’re looking for an uplifting story of how PR can help to save a business, then read Neil Boom’s story “Lost in cyberspace” (just below this editorial). Neil is PR director at OneNewsPage, and his story shows just how PR can deliver demonstrable value in a company.
Well, we’ve made it! With this issue, we complete our first year of PR Success Monthly. It’s been a tough year for the business world – one of the toughest most of us can remember - but we’re in sight of the finishing post for 2009. And now we’re wondering what 2010 holds in store? I take a look at some of the key trends that will be important for PR next year further down this issue.
In these uncertain times, making predictions is a risky business. But one prediction I will make is that 2010, in its own way, is going to be every bit as challenging as 2009 – and PR will have a key business role to play. If you’re planning to hire a PR agency next year, take a look at the six who showcase their expertise in our PR 2010 feature in the right-hand (orange) column.
Meet Malory Davies, editor of the magazine Supply Chain Standard. Malory takes this month’s “Five minutes with…” slot to tell us what it is he wants from PR. The best PR people are the ones who do the simple things well – like sending relevant press releases – Malory says.
Talking of press releases: if you’ve never come across the “so-what? test”, take a quick look at this month’s “Press release clinic” at the foot of this column. This month, we investigate why editors seize upon some stories but ignore others. (It’s all to do with that “so-what? test”.)
And, finally, Christmas is coming. (Personally, I can’t wait.) So it seems only right that I should end this last issue of 2009 by wishing you all a very merry Christmas and much success in 2010. See you next year!
Peter Bartram
Editor
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Lost in cyberspace: how to live without Google
Neil Boom, PR director of a global news portal business, explains how OneNewsPage.com rebuilt traffic after Google turned off the taps
What do you do if your Google site traffic dries up? This was our dilemma. After a flying start - we were a top 30,000 US site within seven months of launching - suddenly we lost over 95 per cent of the search traffic Google had been sending us. Without this, we were losing the nicely growing revenues from display adverts and, worse, we couldn’t understand what caused Google’s withdrawal.
To cut a long story short, we concluded that there was no simple fix. Instead, we focused on what we could control ourselves. There were four areas of focus: content, distribution, added value features, and site promotion.
One News Page is a global news headline portal. We take stories from respected suppliers like Bloomberg, AP, Reuters, CNN and the FT to name but a handful of the hundreds of trusted suppliers that provide the site’s content. To improve content (and attract traffic) we increased the number of news vendors supplying stories to the site, and boosted sports and celebrity stories.
As our mission is to be first with the breaking headlines in every news category, we increased from 1,000 to 1,500 our number of source feeds. We also made the content much easier to find, completely redesigning the site’s navigation. Today, whichever page users are on, each news category is always accessible in a single click. Lastly, we enhanced the search function and made it more prominent.
Our second area of focus was delivery. We wanted users to access the site not only from their PCs, but also from handheld devices. In September, we launched an iPhone/iTouch web app which, we are proud to say, was picked by Apple for its hot news section. We also introduced a Top News RSS feed.
Then we launched our “News Widgets”. Widgets let users take news feeds from our site and host it on theirs. If someone clicks on a story via a widget, it brings them to OneNewsPage.com, boosting our traffic. We added attractive features including e-mailing of stories in one click, and story monitoring through news alerts. This is something PR agencies need to do in real time, so do check it out.
And naturally we joined the Twittering classes. We not only set up our corporate Twitter account, we also wrote clever code so users can tweet and comment on a news story without leaving our site and also read others’ tweets on the same topic.
By August, the changes were showing results, and new users had also discovered the site. But we kept hard at the promotion. We press released every development, and wrote and placed articles about the fast-changing world of new media. We used news release content for our blog, and promoted site developments on our corporate Twitter account, which today has nearly 2,000 followers.
Moreover, we didn’t neglect traditional media relations. We met national journalists over coffee. This led to coverage in the Mail on Sunday and The Guardian around our raising of seed capital, and the launch of the News Widgets. The links from this coverage also boosted our page ranking with Google. Further, we met our City and business contacts to tell them about One News Page. We’ve been lucky in having active shareholders, who have made very valuable suggestions and introductions.
So where do we stand today? Fortunately, site visits have recovered well and we are now ranked in the top 3,000 sites in the US. We are also on budget. If there is a moral in this tale, it’s that hard work pays off and that the business is stronger for having faced and overcome tough challenges.
Five minutes with... Malory Davies
Malory Davies is editor of Supply Chain Standard magazine. He has been writing about transport and logistics issues for more than 25 years and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport
1. What I want from PR people is…
…relevance – there are lots and lots of people trying to sell me stories that are not relevant to my readers. I value people who don’t waste my time.
2. The best way to get my attention is…
…to do the simple things well. Press releases that focus on the key points; good access to the movers and shakers; quick responses to queries – do that and you’re guaranteed a good reception.
3. But please don’t…
…be too clever. For example, there’s no point is using a “delayed drop” on me – I’ll get bored before you get to the point. And don’t try to badger me to print material that is not relevant to my magazine.
4. When pitching a story to me…
…first find out a little about who our readers are, how we work, and how we are likely to use your story.
5. If you’re sending a press release, I want…
…just the facts, ma’am.
6. The most successful PR people…
…make it easier for me to get the information I need for my readers.
Pitch perfect! The Perfect Pitch Masterclass in London on 14th April 2010 is an intensive half-day session which shows you how to pitch ideas to journalists successfully by e-mail or telephone. Save £50 on the normal £195+VAT fee if you book before 31st December at www.perfectpitchmasterclass.co.uk
10 trends for '10
Peter Bartram looks at how PR professionals can harness key trends in 2010 to gain more media coverage
We begin the second decade of the twenty-first century in a more chastened mood than when the fireworks went off heralding the new millennium. We’re struggling out of the worst recession since the 1930s (in case you hadn’t noticed). But don’t let that dampen your optimism for the new year. There will be plenty of opportunities for PR professionals who spot the key trends of 2010 and react early. And here are 10 of those trends to watch out for.
1. Hangover cure. No, not from the Christmas and New Year festivities. The hangover that matters is the debt that cramps business’s ability to grow again. Tip: The PR professionals who will score in this tough environment will be those who produce clearly costed PR action plans which deliver measurable results – some may even score with clients by introducing a contingency element which links part of their fee payments to results.
2. Counting the pennies. Consumers, as well as businesses, will be watching their spending in 2010. (Net credit card debt is still falling as consumers pay back a decade of over-spending.) Tip: PR campaigns that use creative ideas to focus on demonstrable value for money in products and services will ring bells with consumers - and editors.
3. Smile, please. Not an instruction for a group photo, more a plea for PR campaigns that raise people’s morale. People will be looking for things to cheer them up after nearly two years of hard times. Tip: Look for ways to inject an optimistic touch – even a flash of humour – into PR campaigns.
4. Community spirit. Social community media will continue to grow. Hardly surprising. But what is: most PRs don’t rate networks such as Twitter and YouTube as very important for online PR, according to a new survey. Tip: social media are perfect for viral PR – the most effective viral campaigns often offer something for free: a voucher, a membership, useful information.
5. Eastern promise. Markets in the far east will grow faster than those in the west. China’s GDP growth could be 9% in 2010 compared with less than 2% for the UK. Tip: In China, news is not necessarily what’s currently happening – it’s what’s not already been reported. Devise a PR campaign on that basis and see your story continue to appear for weeks across the country’s media.
6. Skilling up. With so many changes in a volatile world – a shift in economic power; the growth of social technologies – PR professionals need to acquire new skills faster than ever before. Tip: focus on the trends which most affect your organisation or clients and decide which new skills you most need to deliver effective PR for them into the future.
7. Election fever. Expect election fever to build in Britain from early Spring onwards to a general election, probably in May (but don’t rule out March/April or June). Tip: Election campaigns generate thousands of articles as well as radio and TV programmes which need input from gurus and experts. Identify your experts - and the subjects they can comment on - now.
8. What about the workers? With so much change in the air – and the economy still in a fragile state – expect people who work for your organisation or your clients to be worried about the future. People never work at their best when they’re not certain what’s lurking around the corner (a P45?). Tip: focus on some internal PR – use creative ideas including social media to reassure employees and communicate confident messages.
9. Peasants’ revolt. As governments (of any political colour) set about slashing public expenditure, watch out for howls of rage from public sector and utility workers as wages are frozen and fringe benefits cut. Expect strikes in key services in the autumn of 2010. Tip: Put a contingency plan in place to cope with strikes in services – such as transport, post or refuse collection - that might affect your organisation.
10. Hope springs eternal. As 2010 draws to a close, it’s an even-money bet that many people will feel that things haven’t improved as much as they’d hoped. The economy will have grown marginally or flat-lined and government cuts will be starting to hurt. Tip: As the year ends, look for stories that provide hope that 2011 will be better. There’s a reasonable chance that it could be.
Give your 2010 PR a boost. Get an “early bird” discount if you book on any of New Venture Publishing’s 2010 PR training courses by 31st December 2009. See full list of courses at the top of the right-hand (orange) column or visit www.newventuretraining.co.uk
Press release clinic: so what?
Peter Bartram looks at why it’s important to check that you’ve really got an interesting story before you send a press release
I received a press release the other day which began: Volga Group [I’ve changed the name] is one of Russia’s leading integrated and diversified producers of meat. My immediate reaction was: so what?
It’s not an unusual reaction among editors and journalists who receive press releases. Even though the release went on to say that the company had won a prize for its annual report in a contest organised by the RTS Stock Exchange in Moscow, I couldn’t help pondering whether this really would be of much interest to British financial writers – even though the company also trades its shares through the London Stock Exchange using a financial instrument known as a global depository receipt.
If you’re sending a press release, it’s a good idea to apply the “so what?” test when you’re thinking about your distribution list. No doubt there are some specialist writers out there who follow Russian companies and would like to receive this piece of news but I wouldn’t mind betting that at least nine out of 10 UK City journalists would just shrug their shoulders with that “so what?” After all, award schemes in most industries are ten a penny these days,
You can avoid that so-what? shrug by making it obvious immediately that you’ve got an interesting story to tell. And, if you haven’t, best not to send a release. You don’t want to get a reputation for sending out non-stories. Here are two recent releases I’ve seen that would have passed the so-what? test with their chosen audiences. “Sexy spamming girls aim to steal world of warcraft passwords” would have piqued the interest of journos on the computer games press.
“Murdoch’s content exclusively on Bing” reported an online poll which showed that many users would welcome the newspaper tycoon’s mooted deal with Microsoft. It should get picked up by some of the journalists covering the running story about Murdoch’s plan to get surfers to pay for access to his newspapers’ content.
The key so-what? message: think about your story and whether it’s strong enough – has sufficient weight – to engage the journalists who will receive it.
Sharpen your press release skills: The Perfect Press Release Masterclass in London on Wednesday 27th January is an intensive half-day session for PR professionals who want to get more of their press releases into print. More details and online booking at: www.prmasterclass.co.uk
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Contents
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Diary dates:
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Save £s on 2010 PR training courses
Book on any New Venture Publishing training course by 31st December 2009 an save £s with an “early bird” booking discount. Visit the website for full details.
Perfect Press Release Masterclass, London. Wednesday 27th January 2010.
A journalist’s eye view on how to write releases that make it into print
EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT: Book before 31st December 2009 and pay just £145+VAT (saving £50).
"Just to let you know I am very grateful for your Perfect 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. You bet I was well surprised as they didn't even contact us for more detailed information." - Hanna Backman, writer/researcher, Ethical Consumer
Perfect Public Relations Masterclass, London. Wednesday 17th February.
Key skills for winning press, broadcast and online PR coverage that deliver more business value
EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT: Book before 31st December 2009 and pay just £295+VAT (saving £100)
"I wanted to e-mail and say thank you very much to you [Peter Bartram] and Lizz [Clarke, the course presenters] for the inspirational course last Friday. It was really helpful and positive, I appreciated the ‘can do’ approach, and the books will no doubt be of great use in the months to come." - Bryony Hitchcock, marketing co-ordinator, Evolving Systems Ltd
Perfect Proposals & Presentations Masterclass, London. Wednesday 3rd March 2010.
How PR and marketing consultancies can improve pitches to win more business.
EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT: Book before 31st December 2009 and pay just £195+VAT (saving £50)
"I thought Jo [Lynn, the course presenter] was brilliant and, as a fellow woman working in PR, albeit a relative newcomer in comparison, extremely inspiring." - Lyndsey Hunt, Word Association
Writing for Publication Masterclass, London. Thursday 18th March 2010.
How to write news stories and feature articles that editors want to publish
EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT: Book before 31st December 2009 and pay just £145+VAT (saving £50)
“My colleague and I both found that the Writing for Publication Masterclass was an efficient solution to our writing needs. We received a very comprehensive list of ideas with which to improve the articles we write and copy edit for our internal magazine and on our intranet site. We were able to measure our understanding along the way with some quick tests, but no time was wasted and we accumulated knowledge and technique apace. Three hours after arriving we felt empowered and enthusiastic about writing for publication: this was money well spent!” - Bryony Ulyett, Internal Communications Executive, Corporate Communications, Halcrow Group
Perfect Pitch Masterclass , London. Wednesday 14th April 2010.
How to devise article and interview pitches that journalists really want to hear
EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT: Book before 31st December 2009 and pay just £145+VAT (saving £50)
“Overall, very solid course, with lots of real-life examples from editors. Very well structured Workbook, which will be valuable for my colleagues. Thank you.” Nick Vellacott, director, Highlight PR
"I really enjoyed the course - it felt like a breath of fresh air." - Ruth Palmer, Indigo Pink Communications.
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Sponsored links:
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Just click on the title of each link and it will take you to the appropriate website.
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Get your own sponsored link…
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Worth knowing:
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PR 2010
This is the time of year when organisations start to think about which agency to use for PR in the coming year. Here six agencies set out their stalls in brief and invite you to visit their websites for more information. Just click on the name of the PR company you want to visit.
BH PR
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NeonDrum
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The SPA Way
Well established, independently owned, London-based PR agency, The SPA Way is exceptionally skilled in delivering high profile media relations' campaigns with results that are fully guaranteed against the fee.
Vector Marcoms
Vector Marcoms are the media relations specialists with an experienced, hard-working, results driven team. From fashion and beauty to automotive and gadgets, whatever the brief, we'll deliver the coverage.
Christmas books for PR
You can read a sample chapter from each of these books and buy online by clicking on the name of the book.
How to Write the Perfect Press Release , New Venture Publishing, £12.95.
“This is a book for people who want to get their company, their organisation, their leading personalities or their message into the media more often – and do it in a way that generates coverage which helps them achieve their objectives.”
How to Make Your Case in the Media , New Venture Publishing, £14.95.
“This is a book for people who find they suddenly have to face the media. It’s also a book for people who’ve already had a brush with the media, perhaps weren’t happy with the outcome – and want to perform better next time around.”
How to Write Well at Work , New Venture Publishing, £12.95.
“This is a book for people who want to improve their skills at workplace writing. Good, fluent writing designed to communicate meaning succinctly and effectively is a powerful business skill in its own right.”
How to Build a Winning Bid Team , New Venture Publishing, £12.95.
“We live in a binary world. You are either a winner or a loser. More than that, you win big or you lose big. You scoop the pool or you are left with nothing…”
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Contact details
We hope you find this newsletter of interest. If you have any queries or would like to make a suggestion about future content, please contact New Venture Publishing using the contact details below.
New Venture Publishing Ltd, 29 Tivoli Road, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 5BG, UK.
Tel: +44 1273 565505. E-mail: info@newventurepublishing.co.uk
© New Venture Publishing Ltd 2010. All rights reserved.
New Venture Publishing Ltd is registered in England & Wales, number 5606789
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