Part 5 would be at Deb’s disgression. I tried to allude to managing expectations in this and a couple of the other posts. Too many corporate execs think what they have to say/report is important when, to be real blunt, it isn’t. But you can’t win all of those fights, so pick your battles (as I seem to tell my teens daily).

Here and with a previous post in this series, you mentioned pitching, which I see as a little different than a release, per se. Often a pitch is geared to something specific on the editorial calendar or to place an article (case study, thought leadership, etc.) in the publication that a PR firm writes — I don’t write too many pitches, but I’ve done a lot of the work on the articles once they’ve been successfully pitched. The important element in getting these pitches approved is that they’re written in a journalistic style, not in heavy marketing language.

Hallelujah and Praise the Lord, yes! From a past life, where I worked with a lot of reporters, and generally the same universe on a regular basis, I can tell you that the most blood-boiling call a reporter can get is “Hey, this is X, did you get that release I sent?” If you’re going to followup, then have something better in your arsenal than, “Did you get it?” Have an actual, honest-to-goodness pitch – why this is important, why it’s important to the reporter (yes, that’s sometimes different), and a good angle. All in about ten seconds of so, because that’s your window.

Here’s one strategy that has worked for me in the past. Do the release, by all means, but also try to find a couple of different angles (perhaps even a larger angle) and pitch them to specific reporters.

Can I suggest a Part Five of this series? “Managing Client Expectations with press releases.” You’d be surprised how many clients expect to see their name in the papers just because you sent the release.