According to Professor Rulon L. Bradley, Ph.D. (my 1st public relations counsellor at Brigham Young University), the most important skill I would learn in BYU’s PR program was writing.
“As a professional, 70 percent of your time will be spent writing,” Dr. Bradley used to say.
Back then I thought he was nuts. Today? I’m not so sure.
I [...]

If you’re having difficulty reaching a journalist, here’s a suggestion:
Sometimes it’s better to try calling journalists at the very beginning or very end of a day.
Try it sometimes.
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BONUS TIP:
This suggestion often works for trying to catch anyone [...]

Okay, this is another A.P. bugaboo of mine for public relations people.
But if it was/is important enough for the Associated Press to create specific state appreviations  for use in datelines, why wouldn’t you (as a PR pro) want to use this A.P. style in news releases? 
To me, this is a simple way of showing professional [...]

There are a few Associated Press Style Guide rules that have stuck with me from my college days. Case in point, cities in datelines.
Simply put, the A.P. says there are certain cities (both in the United States and internationally) that are notable and/or unique enough that they should used alone in a dateline.
For example, if [...]

If you’re in public relations, pick a style and stick with it.
A style? Sure — a writing style.
The Associated Press “style” of news writing if probably the most commonly used (and taught) when it comes to both PR and journalism. But there’s also the New York Times “style” and the Chicago Manual of Style form [...]

If you’re at a trade show or other major event where there are a number of journalists meeting with lots of companies, consider using your business card to your advantage. How?
Use the back of your business card as a miniature billboard to help remind journalists what you discussed during your visit.
There are two ways to [...]

If you print publicity materials — news releases, fact sheets, biographies, backgrounders, etc. — make sure every sheet includes 24X7X365 contact info.
Make it easy on your readers. Include

Your name,
Company name,
Phone number(s), and
Email address

on every page.
That way, no one will have to look very hard (or far) to know how to get in touch with you.

Be honest with yourself: Not every thing that happens at your company (or client) is newsworthy — certainly not to every reporter or media outlet – regardless of what your boss or client may think.
Nevertheless, I’d bet that something newsworthy is happening each and every week at your company/client organization.
The challenge is to

Set proper expectations internally,
Target the [...]

Finally, with the formal universal launch last week of “Twitter Lists” on Twitter, there is a new tool available for the enterprising PR professional to identify the best journalist for a particular story idea.
Specifically, it is now possible to use a search engine to find lists of journalists on Twitter that others have already assembled.
For [...]

If you’ve decided to use Twitter as one of the tools in your PR toolkit, good for you.
If so, you should definitely check out MediaOnTwitter.
Although it’s one of several online lists/of journalists on Twitter available on the Web, MediaOnTwitter has more than 1,200 journalists listed, making it (in my opinion), one of the best lists [...]