There are many versions of “seven sins” relating to PR and marketing and I suspect that most are written by people rather like me. As PR consultants we learn quite early that there are some golden rules and ever-present dangers in our profession and that these must become embedded in everything we do. We convey them to our trainees and interns so that they don’t need to endure the same painful lessons (although inevitably because they are both human and young it can take a few mistakes and difficult experiences before they get it right). Some of the most active PR people are not those in agencies but entrepreneurs or workers in smaller businesses. These have no benefit of training but think it looks simple enough. They reason that they can easily identify some of their trade or local business journalists and often commence with calls and press releases in pursuit of coverage. The advent of free press release sites has increased the number of firms tinkering with DIY publicity since it presents a tempting and theoretically oh-so-simple PR platform ... When businesses are starting out or very small it can be very hard to justify working with an agency or understand how PR relates to your business. We work with many entrepreneurs and can see that sometimes a period of finding your feet can actually be a good idea. Early stage PR activity therefore has a role to play - but if you are going to try to conduct outreach to the media without the support of professionals, then there are a few things you need to know and learn. Hopefully in the process you will get an inkling of the real contribution that media relations and PR can make to the bottom line of your business and, one day, come knocking. These are my own versions of The Seven Deadly Sins, and they relate specifically to media relations activity. If you can take on board these basic lessons you will already be ahead of the game versus some of your competitors! 1. Do not put out news which really, really isn’t. It might be exciting or significant to you but unless it provokes a ‘hey wow’ factor, surprises, intrigues or creates an emotional reaction of some kind it’s far more likely to go in the bin or be subject to immediate deletion than to end up on the page. Be smart and think hard about what you are about to put out as news – it might be that it IS great news for your customers and better in an email marketing exercise, but is not going to ring the bells of your trade journal at all. 2. You MUST do your homework about any publication or journalists you call or email. You can’t assume their title simply defines what they are interested in and that you fall into the general area of that interest. You need to READ, VIEW or LISTEN to what they write or broadcast. Otherwise you risk not only annoying the recipient but gaining a reputation as a time-waster. 3. Don’t email lots of unrequested material. Yes, you can get away with short emails which are potentially of interest, timely and relevant, but you should not send attachments and certainly not loads of pictures. Journalists don’t appreciate an overstuffed inbox or having to take extra steps to see if they are interested: they need to know this right away from the subject line and first lines of the email. 4. Beware of relying on press releases (especially if you put them out via free press release sites which often go nowhere near the press). While they are useful for getting information on the record and sometimes aiding your ‘searchability’ there’s so much more to PR than that. More thought, more creativity, more ideas and a range of appropriate tactics are needed to make communications work fully and to build relationships that can actually help your business. 5. Never make the mistake of thinking that you are in control of the message that goes on the page. You aren’t – nor whether a journalist chooses to write about anything you provide. If you want guarantees then advertise - but live with the knowledge that it won’t be regarded as quite as trustworthy as when reported by a bona fide journalist. PR works by increasing the likelihood of information going public by making sure it is clear, timely, robust, interesting and in the right editorial hands – but the final decisions and control rest with the journalist or editor. For the same reasons we always try to head off clients that want to argue with a journalist’s interpretation. You cannot argue back solely because they don’t agree with you! 6. Don’t ever assume that you are entitled to editorial coverage if you spend advertising money. Those publications that link the two are arguably less worth being in anyway - although there will always be the odd exception, especially in some niche or very local media which otherwise may struggle to stay afloat. In the main, editorial and advertising departments are separate – so make sure you take a good hard look before you cough up in order to ensure editorial inclusion. 7. Don’t lie. At all. Ever. Don’t fudge the facts, don’t baffle them with bullshit, don’t hide behind jargon, acronyms and buzzwords. Media will see through fudging tactics very fast, and will tire of trying to wade through heavy jargon and over-complex language to attempt to find a story. Of course this isn’t the end of the story. There are many more hazards and tripwires on the communications path but many opportunities too. A vast number of potential directions exist for PR which aren’t actually about the press at all. These include social media and events and various forms of publishing and initiatives that reach out to audiences that include prospects, staff, existing customers, partners, suppliers, peers or even the Government. For now, however, these are enough to get you started in dealing with media matters for your small enterprise a little more safely. We wish you luck – and we are here when you are ready.