Business and Finance

Most businesses understand the benefits of good PR. If you raise your profile and get your good news stories out in the media then people will remember you, associate you with a good product and go on to become customers.

But sometimes things go wrong and your reputation, or that of your business, is in danger. This should also be a time when you turn to PR, and use its tools to avert disaster and get a better result for yourself and your business.

So, what do you do in a crisis? What if you have a journalist ringing you for comments about a bad news story? How to you handle the fall-out?

Each situation is different, and calls for a different response but one thing you should never do – NEVER do nothing. If you bury your head in the sand, wish the reporters would go away, batten down the hatches or simply hope for the best, the best won’t happen. With nothing from you, journalists can put their own spin on a story; if you reportedly “refused to comment” or were “unavailable for comment” people will invariably draw a bad conclusion.

Continue reading ‘Crisis? What Crisis? How PR Can Help Avert a Business Disaster’ »

People say that children these days never learn to spell. Well, to be honest I am not sure I did either until I became a journalist.

I went to a very good, private girls’ school and I know they constantly corrected my spelling and grammar but much of it didn’t sink in until I started working for a newspaper.

There, I had a wonderful news editor who not only taught me how to write news but also how to spell.

So bad was I, that he kept a kind of hall of shame of my faux pas, some of which I will share with you now:

* Loan parents (instead of lone)

* Sceptic fingers (instead of septic)

* And – my personal favourite – my report of a curb crawler (rather than kerb crawler) after a particularly juicy magistrates court case.

Continue reading ‘Why You Need to Spell Well in Business’ »

So many people don’t understand the difference between editorial and advertorial. Well – here is a simple definition: editorial is free and written by journalists; advertorial (usually some words to go with an advert) is paid for. Now, while you have total control over the wording of your advert, or advertorial, you have to pay for it. And that can cost a lot.

Editorial is free. And, because it is free and at the discretion of the publication (or journalist), they aren’t obliged to publish anything at all, and they can change the words or emphasis to suit. But – and here’s the good news – if you have a great angle then there is every chance that you could interest a journalist in publishing your story.

The best way is through a press release. And that release has to have a really good angle to attract the reporters’ eye. It’s no good sending in a story saying that you are the best thing since sliced bread, even if you are. You need a hook, a peg to hang the story on, an angle.

So what about some of these for ideas?

* Your busines has reached its 10th, 25th, 50th, 100th birthday

* You have developed a new product

* You have clinched a fantastic deal/contract

* You have sold your millionth widget (!)

Continue reading ‘Do-it-yourself PR – or How to Get in the Press for Free’ »

Why do companies need to do thought-leadership as part of a technology PR campaign?

For many businesses, corporate reputation is not solely built on the basis of product range or customer base, but on the credibility of its management team and its vision within the industry. This is particularly true for organisations that are looking for funding or to exit, or for companies where a key differentiator is its specialist expertise.

A suitable way for organisations to achieve this differentiation by concentrating some of their PR efforts around high-level thought leadership, and building the profile of a senior figure(s) within the business.

Thought-leadership activities will build a profile outside of trade media and bring a company’s messages to a far wider audience within national and broadcast media. To support the thought-leadership activities, companies can position their spokesperson as a true industry guru and a ‘go to’ commentator on relevant issues.

Continue reading ‘Thought-leadership in PR’ »