#pr mistakes

[sarahtcommunications]

Dear Newly Graduated College Students,

You’re just out of college. You’re ambitious. You think you can handle anything that gets thrown at you. News flash: You can’t. I would like to preface this with I did everything you are about to hear about to MYSELF. My bosses did not push me to do all this. I wanted so bad to make my project the best it could be and overextended myself.

Let me set the scene for you, I am planning a party; An important party with important people. Three weeks before the party I got the idea to upgrade our existing art-show style 50th-anniversary exhibit to a more of a museum-style piece.  What did this mean for me? I had to design 16 posters from scratch and have them ready for approval in three days. That is a stupid quick turn around for that amount of design work. Finally, we did a big final edit on Friday and sent it off to the printer.

Surprise, surprise, there were still errors. We caught them in the proof, so all is well, but it is still frustrating as all hell. It also does a pretty good job of making me look like an idiot. I might be, but I’m an idiot that is trying. You can’t expect to be able to catch everything in the whole world if you're working on such a tight deadline. You want time to be able to catch your errors since you won't see them all until you can distance yourself from the project. That kind of distance takes time.

Long story short, I know you think that you are just doing it so you can do the best job possible for your client. You aren’t though, you are risking giving them a sub-par product if you don’t give yourself the time that you need to do a good job. Not to mention you’ll want to pull your hair out, you’ll be stressed constantly, and those are even worse conditions to be trying to do creative work under.

Did It all work out? Yes. Are the posters fine? Yup, I love them. Am I the luckiest duck out there? Absolutely. This should not have worked out. This should have crumbled underneath me and left me in the worst place imaginable. That didn’t happen. I have the people at the printer and my bosses to thank for that. I am ridiculously thankful that the only damage I received from this lesson is a bruised ego and intense anxiety.

Don’t risk it Kiddos,

StratCommSarah

While I was having panic attacks over this project I searched the internet for stories of people that had messed up worse than me. While I found many stories of people that had, they had not messed up in a PR/AD/Marketing way. The stories of people accidentally wasting thousands of dollars did put my soul at ease, they weren’t quite what I needed to pick myself up and move on. That is why I decided to share this story with you.

[moolyaglobal-blog]

6 pr mistakes to avoid in your startup

“public relations ( PR ) are a key component of any operation in this day of instant communications and rightly inquisitive citizens.” – alvin adams

mistakes in the business world are inevitable. no matter what kind of business you are in, you will make some mistakes. but the startup world is a crazy world. most startups are strapped for cash, crunched for time, and overburdened with work.

in such a volatile situation, startups should be super careful and take calculative steps. 9 out of 10 startups fail. my friend, even a small, wrong move can have a big impact on the future of the business.

in today’s post, i am going to discuss with you the top six PR mistakes that every startup should avoid. after reading this post, you will know what could be fatal for the future of your business.

without further ado, let us dive in:

1. picking a wrong time to kick-off

apple is launching a new model of iphone, google is coming up with the new version of its nexus tab, or tesla is going to launch its electric car. tell me a common thing in all of these, upcoming events.

can’t you guess? ok, let me tell you.

the whole media will be busy covering these much-awaited events.

if you try to launch your business or you plan to introduce a new product to your market at the time of these events, you might not get enough media coverage.

so, my friend, you should never pick such a wrong time to kick-off.

even if your product is entirely different than the rest of those big launches, you should try to avoid such a clash.

2. starting everything stupendously

needless to say, startups are often strapped for cash. they need to find ways to reduce operating costs.

but many startups start everything, be it an annual party or new product launch, stupendously. this is a big mistake. ignoring cash burn is one of the top seven reasons why startups fail.

so, whether it is a product launch or giving ads in local media, you should not spend extravagantly. also, you don’t have to hire an expensive PR agency. if you are not able to do it yourself, hire a freelancer.

3. not having a unique brand voice

every good brand, be it small or big, has a unique brand voice. it is paramount that your brand should also have a unique brand voice.

what is a brand voice?

brand voice is nothing but an amalgam of your brand’s personality, values and how you interact with your customers.

Read full article @ moolya blog

[phxazlaura]

Mistakes to avoid when starting a PR campaign

Mistakes to avoid when starting a PR campaign

Mistakes to avoid when starting a PR campaign

We’ve been spending some time these last couple weeks discussing PR and how to make it work for you.

PR involves telling the STORY of your book and creating RELATIONSHIPS with those who will share it 12 tips for a successful PR campaign

Many first-time authors make marketing blunders that cost them sales.While publicity and marketing are different…

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[thewinklergroup]

Spinning Jesus takes a tongue-in-cheek look at how traditional public relations tools might fare when a ticket to heaven or hell is on the line. Set during the greatest crisis of them all, The Great Tribulation, this free handbook identifies some of the biggest PR mistakes still being made today.

[katherineohara]

Common PR Pitfalls

Think about this stat. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, PR pros outnumber journalists by 3 to 1. This sets the stage for a pretty big battle for awareness. This ratio reflects the economy driven drop in journalists as well as the birth of many "I can do PR" entities. This mad rush to get attention has lead PR pros to attempt creative methods to break through the clutter – who can blame them.  It also has lead many to make some pretty large blunders. The following list is a small sample of the more common mistakes I'm seeing more and more of. I promise, these tactics will not earn you, or your client, the kind of attention you're hoping for.

Off-topic. An education story sent to a crime reporter? Do your research and make sure you not only know the right journalists to contact but the kind of stories they tend to look for. 

Lifted copy. If your release reads exactly like content found on the client's website, clearly your client doesn't have a ton to add to any interview.

Don – not Donna. Get a reporter's name right or the best written pitch won't be read past the opening hello.

Blatantly lying. Does that popcorn really stop restless leg syndrome? 

2,500 words of nothing. An endless ramble kills a great pitch. An endless ramble with no story – prepare to be blacklisted.

Begging. Do I need to say more?

Late night followup. Your mom. 911. Those are probably the only two calls you should be making at 11pm.

Email to the masses: Making it clear that everyone on the planet is getting exactly the same pitch is probably not the best move. 

Speaking in code. Journalists, while versed on their topic, may not be familiar with 'code' terms your client uses. Save the 9-R200, C-SAP usage and stick with simple language that gets to the point.

No plan. Strategy on-the-fly isn't a strategy. 

[jenniferpino-blog]

Southeast Venture Conference (SEVC) this week, keep a look out for Crossroads PR Principals, Shawn Ramsey and Kristi Lee-John. I just got word via Twitter that it's a sell-out event this year, so it might be tough to find them, but they're the ones currently cruising the Peach State event looking to meet B2B technology companies in attendance, and share some PR expertise - like how to reach their target audiences around the globe, how to leverage social media for thought leadership, the value of SEO, and more...oh, and they both have brown hair, Kristi's with blonder highlights.

If you do find Shawn and Kristi, make sure to ask about or keep a lookout for a customized Crossroads PR QR code to learn the top 5 PR mistakes early stage companies make and how to avoid them. That content is also available at http://www.crossroadspr.com/prmistakes. But it's much more fun to use the QR code scanner on your phone, trust me, I've done it and it's pretty cool.

If you missed SEVC this year, and we haven't met you yet, feel free to drop us an email and hopefully we'll connect at future technology events in 2011. Crossroads PR specializes in Open Source, Digital Media, Healthcare IT, Life Science, Biotech, Pharmaceutical and Business Software - so we hope to see you at some of these industry-specific events as well!