Posts Tagged ‘coverage’

I’m a big fan of Businesswire and PR Newswire.  Always have been.  They each provide a service that is important for the PR industry.  That service – wide distribution of a news release to reporters and editors focused on a particular industry or area – has always been a tool in a PR person’s arsenal, and I imagine it always will be.

But …

When a company is considering some kind of outsourced PR representation, and comes down to a decision between:

1. Hiring a PR firm; and
2. Hiring a freelancer to write releases and distribute them on Businesswire/PR Newswire,

I try to explain that there is a world of difference between the two approaches, and that we see the wire services as partners, not competitors.  Those who understand the difference select us.  Those who don’t understand the difference do not select us.  It’s really that simple.

So what is the difference?

Simply put, it’s the difference between telemarketing and an in-house seasoned sales team.  A telemarketing firm can plow through a tremendous number of contacts, offering the product to each and hoping for the best.  But a sales team brings all sorts of tools to the table, including research, relationships, industry knowledge and, perhaps most importantly, the ability to think and react.

A wire service is able to distribute an announcement to literally thousands and thousands of contacts, but that is where the value ends.  There is no active “selling” of the story as deserving of coverage.  There is no feedback from the reporter. There is no qualitative result.  It’s all quantitative.  But it’s worse than that.  Take a look at this.  Okay, now first, I have to explain that I have absolutely nothing against this ProPay company, based in Utah.  So it seems impressive that this company was covered by Forbes.com, right?  After all, Forbes.com is a pretty popular site.

Now, go to www.forbes.com and, without using the search window, see if you can find this “article” about ProPay.

You can’t.

Because it’s not real coverage.  It’s a newsfeed, based on a partnership between Forbes.com and Businesswire.  And it will look impressive to those within ProPay who are fairly ignorant about PR, but it will have literally no value to their business.

When you hire a PR firm, real conversations are taking place between the firm and the media, and those conversations will lead to real interviews which, as you can probably guess, will lead to real coverage of your company.

Here’s an example of something we did recently for a client, SysAid.  Now, if you tried to find it starting at www.baselinemag.com, you would find it.  It’s in the Business Intelligence section, on the second page.

It’s real coverage.  And not only will people be able to find it, but when they do, they will believe what it says, because it’s not simply a reprint of a company news release.

And at the end of the day, that’s really what PR is all about.  You want people to hear about you, and you want what they hear to be believable.

Don’t you?

Guest post by RFI intern Natalie Lazaroff (GWU ‘11)

Upon the start of my internship at Ruder Finn Israel I did not have a lot of experience in public relations. In some capacity I knew that I would be working towards improving the image of clients, which in this office ranges from high tech startups, to publicly traded companies, to non-profit organizations that operate both in and out of Israel. However, I was unsure of what exactly an intern in the PR industry would be responsible for on a daily basis.

I am now almost nine weeks into my internship and can honestly say that I have learned a great deal about the industry itself and I now have a more concrete understanding of what the job description is for one who works in public relations.

Among the many things that I have learned over the last two months, the most important for me are the general knowledge that I now have about the field, as well as the tools that I have gained that will enable me to perform better when working in the industry.

On a basic level, I understand that Ruder Finn is responsible for the writing of news releases and bylined articles, the composition of media lists and constant awareness to find opportunities that will help clients to flourish and gain worthwhile mention. But more specifically, the staff at Ruder Finn Israel has showed me that teamwork, creativity and determination are just as important as knowing how to find an editorial calendar on a publication’s website.

In a recent brainstorming session at Ruder Finn Israel, the team discussed creative and fun ways to physically deliver a press release that would be a far step from the ordinary route. Experiences like these make me really appreciate my internship and think about the understanding that I’ve gained as I begin to contemplate the next steps in my life after my upcoming college graduation.

When I ask myself whether it’s time to seriously consider a career in public relations, I think about the brainstorming sessions that I’ve attended, the writing I’ve done, and the amazing and innovative companies that I’ve had the opportunity to represent.  I love that I go to work each and every day knowing that I’ll be doing something different from the day before and I love that the needs of each client vary greatly. This allows me to use the different strengths that I have and to cater to the various client expectations to the best of my ability.

But my favorite aspect about working in public relations is knowing that I can make a difference. As an intern, I conduct lots of research and do other tasks that serve as the basis for much larger projects. Although I am not speaking with company representatives one-on-one, I know that the results I achieve make a strong impact and help to meet the needs of the clients.

The internship program at Ruder Finn Israel has provided me with a strong foundation for what might likely be the start of a career in public relations. I now have confidence in myself that I can work successfully in a PR firm and be a strong asset to a hardworking team. However, just as a house is not complete after the foundation is laid, there is still much more for me to learn and experience.

I look forward to continuing this path of learning and exploration and will not forget what I learned during my nine-week internship at Ruder Finn Israel.