Public Relations-ships

Relationships, we all know the word. In life we attempt to maintain hundreds of relations everyday from friendships to romantic affairs. Although relationships are part of everyone’s personal lives, relationships within the inner workings of professional lives are the most important kind of relations.

In public relations, becoming friends with the media and maintaining a symbiotic relationship can be a great strategy for all PR pros. But once that friendship is in tact, how do you relate to the media and maintain credibility?

According to lifetips.com, media relations is the relationship that a PR or marketing firm maintains with journalists and PR practitioners extend that relationship using the media. It’s simple; ultimately the PR pros and the media need each other and below are 10 tips to help maintain professional public relationships.

1) Don’t be afraid to call reporters and introduce yourself. Let them know who you, who your clients are and that they can call you anytime in need of a story. Be brief!

2) Tie the story to something local when speaking with the area media. This shows the media that you are trying to pitch to local audience building credibility within the region you work in.

3) Respect deadlines. According to an Rutgers-Newark, if a reporter is in the middle of deadline when you call him/her, call back. This shows that you respect their time and hard work.

4) Always act as a resource for the media and reporters. Don’t always expect reporters to publish your pitch, but when they are in need of a story, let them know they can easily come to you.

5) Never bash the media and always maintain a relationship, no matter what! Author and business speaker, Thomas Murrell states in a media relations article that instead of bashing or getting angry at the media because they didn’t quote you or publish your pitch, rethink how you approached them and communicated your message.

6) Follow-up on story ideas sent via e-mail. While you may have sent a press release to the media by email, calling them to make sure that they received it can show respect. However, do not call more than once after getting ahold of them. Respecting reporters time is a major component of media relationships.

7) If reporters publish stories, always follow-up and thank them. This shows that you appreciate their work.

8) Remember all information that a reporter will need when pitching a story. Sending them only a press release and not product or company photos might make them rule your story out.

9) Prepare clients for interviews with the media. How does this help with media relations? Getting clients ready for media interviews makes the interview process faster and quicker again respecting the media and reporters time.

10) When submitting a press release or pitching a story, write the reporter a note or personalized note when possible. This shows the reporter that you are trying to establish a credible relationship for the future.

For more media tips visit the below links:
http://www.indiaprblog.com/2007/01/15-media-relations-tips-by-pr.html
http://www.mediarelationsblog.com/111/six-tips-for-better-media-relations/
http://21stcenturymediarelations.com/category/media-relations-tips/