Tag Archives: pr agency

How To Get TV News Coverage

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PR Clients always want the best visible coverage from the media. So how do you get this coverage?

Getting Television and Print Coverage

Getting Television and Print Coverage

First you need to plan your publicity campaign. That means you need to establish what is newsworthy, set a target date to make this announcement (press release), be prepared to follow up to all the news media the release was submitted, and have a spokesperson(s) be ready to meet the press. Sounds simple, but this is not an easy task. Knowing the reporters and the media is very critical in getting a story published or aired on broadcast television. PR Clients must rely on their pr agency to direct how and when such a story will be presented. It is the agency’s expertise that will make this happen. Many times pr clients feel that their point of view about their product or service is superior to the competition and cannot understand why “they” are not getting the media or reporters to take notice. For this reason alone, it is important for pr clients to trust the direction, recommendations of the pr agency, if not, it is possible the pr client could create a negative impression to the media and nothing will happen.

We recently had two pr clients that wanted major media coverage. One was for the California RV Show that recently happened at the Fairplex in Pomona on Oct. 11 through 20. The other was Grande Bakery whose 50+ years in business was forced to close due to the city of Santa Ana using eminent domain to take their property for road expansion. We established a strong pr campaign that highlighted the objectives we developed for each pr client. The results were excellent.

The California RV Show had a full week of coverage from KTLA’s Gayle Anderson, plus CBS chief meteorologist Josh Rubenstein, Telemundo TV, various print media and several bloggers writing about the event. You can read more about this publicity campaign in my blog dated October 22.

Grande Bakery required a different type of approach. Knowing this decision by the city was going to impact the lives of the Gallegos family who owned the bakery for over 50 years, and the employees (many who worked there for over 30+ years) and how it was going to have an effect on the community who supported and relied on their goods for over three generations, was our focus. Our timeline was short. We only had three weeks before the city was to take possession of the property so we had to move fast and smart. Our first article appeared in the OC Register with interviews by Tony Gallegos and Ralph Gallegos. This was followed up a few days later with NBC and Telemundo doing interviews. Less than a week later a follow up story with OC Register, NBC TV, plus Telemundo and Excélsior Newspaper created more media attention that generated many calls to the office of Loretta Sanchez. Everyday another media will pickup the article and do their story angle as did OC Weekly’s Gustavo Arellano in today’s online news.

Having a solid campaign that gets your message to your audience is how to get the attention of the media. Knowing when, how and what to do is the pr agency’s responsibility. Give your pr agency the freedom to create the campaign you need and trust their decisions will help you gain the awareness you desire. If your company, event or product needs more visibility, consider a solid publicity campaign. If you need help developing the campaign then give George Carson a call at 949-477-9400. We know how to “make things happen!”

Carson PR gets Clients noticed

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Publicity clients rely on their pr agency to provide various services such as press releases, promotional events and articles. As these are necessary, it is the innovative pr marketing strategy that we use to get pr clients noticed. There are many other marketing strategies that can be developed in a campaign to be successful. That’s what makes Carson PR and Carson Marketing, Inc. unique.

It is the ability to be proactive. The foresight to see market conditions and respond accordingly. It is the knowledge of knowing how to reach an audience. That’s what makes us different.pr clients

Am I bragging? Maybe. Why am I telling you this? Because I am frustrated in having new pr clients come to us after being hammered or taken by traditional pr agencies for thousands of dollars, then we only have very limited budgets to make things happen. And we do! Our direct pr marketing approach isn’t unique, but it takes on-going efforts (rather than pumping out press releases, or articles and sitting back waiting for them to be published like traditional pr agencies) to get pr clients noticed.

It is the combination of web marketing, social networking, blogging, as well as online publicity programs that creates a successful campaign to get pr clients more than noticed, but gets results.

When a pr client really needs a successful campaign, that’s when we are called. Why are we the last resort? Because we don’t take clients for granted, but work harder than most of our competitors to “make things happen“. If you are ready for success, give George Carson a call at: 949-477-9400. It could be the best call you make before you spend your budget foolishly!

Do You Know How To Create A Publicity Plan?

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If you are a pr client, or an ad agency, or even a publicity person, these tips can help you organize yourself to create a solid publicity plan. Although these may seem basic, they are the key essentials for any publicity plan.

For PR Clients, you need to have your key personnel in the marketing and sales departments become part of this process. For all pr agency staff, take notes; maybe even compare a recent pr plan you had prepared to compare it to this checklist.

First, you need to:  SET GOALS and OBJECTIVES.

Sounds easy, but this is the core to most failures of a publicity campaign. For example the goals and objectives should be something that can be achieved with a good plan, rather than a “wish list”. If you are a food company, or a retail store, it would be to “increase traffic and sales”. Other goals and objectives could be to “generate awareness to the brand(s), or to the name”.  Write at least three of the goals and objectives that are most needed at your company, or for your pr client.

Keep in mind that the publicity campaign should be part of your overall marketing plan. You need to work with marketing in order to see how your publicity plan can fit with the marketing initiatives.

When writing the publicity plan you should include these OBJECTIVES:

• Target Audience (identify them, even B2B companies have a target audience)

• Tactics (what are the means of media, such as TV, radio, newspapers, internet social networks, etc) Some of the best pr tactics to use are News Releases, Media Press Kits, Articles, News Conference, etc. It is very important that one person be the main contact at the company. This assigned individual needs to be available, and be knowledgeable of the products, or services you are promoting in the campaign.

• Timing (when are you planning to implement the publicity campaign) if this is about a special event or specific launch of a new product, then timing is critical and you need to plan well in advance.

• Measurement (have a process to measure the results) you can monitor the publicity campaign throughout the duration of the campaign. For example, how many interviews have been conducted? How many stories, or releases have been published, or placed in the different media–broadcast, print, Internet.

Each of these areas can be detailed and explained further. But my goal and objective for this blog is to get you started in the right direction. You can build upon these parts as needed. If you are a pr client or a publicity person that needs help in creating a publicity campaign, then give Carson Marketing a call. We can help your publicity campaign reach the goals and objectives set forth.

Write a Press Release for the Media Not Your Company

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It is now a new year, yet I see pr clients, manufacturers, and companies still submitting press releases that are written for them, not for the media.

It is not rocket science, but it does take a flare and talent to write a press release that the media will publish. A few common mistakes when writing a press release: Headlines are too long and do not say what the news is about, it doesn’t announce the main objective of the release; another point, the body of the releases usually are written as if it is a newsletter, or boasting how great the company is and forgets to address the issue at hand. Then the poorly written release doesn’t tell you whom to contact, instead directs you to their site, or gives a general phone number to call.writing press releases

A good release should have a strong headline, announce in the first sentence what you want the reader to know. Remember, each publication has readers; it is up to the editors, reporters to have interesting articles and information that keeps readers subscribing. This is true of any newspaper or magazine, or online media news. Knowing this, you should identify the audience of the publication you are submitting the release, and then fine-tune the information to fit that readers profile. Speak to them, not at them.

If you are a PR Client that tells their PR Agency, or your internal publicity writer how to create the press release, then you are doing more harm than good for your company. PR Clients need to let the professionals do their job. The president or CEO of a company should check the releases for accuracy, but not dictate how to write the release.

Many web sites are available to teach the basics of writing releases. If you Google the words “write press releases” a list of sites will appear. This is a good place to start. Some other free sites that offer information are New Venture Publishing, PR Web, and a Publicity Insider and many others.

Now it’s time to start the year in the right direction of writing and submitting good press releases. If you are in need of some help with your publicity campaign, or need writing help, give us a call. We will make you look and sound great!

How To Get Local Publicity

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The goals for any pr client is to get local publicity first, then get as much pr attention as you can later. Why is that important? Because without achieving local recognition, you allow any competitor to take control of your back yard. So what are the secrets to getting local publicity? For example, if you are a pr client in Orange County, you want to begin by getting involved with community programs, or local events.local publication newspaper Orange County

If you are working with a local publicity agency, such as CarsonPR, or one of our divisions (Carson and Company or Carson Marketing, Inc.), make sure you notify the pr agency of any activities, events, community programs that your company becomes involved in. In turn, think about getting more visible by lecturing at different events, or sponsoring small programs, such as the YMCA.

Other ideas to get noticed are: Press releases. These are always a good suggestion. When your company hires an executive person, or contracts with a new client, or moves to different offices, it is always newsworthy. It might not get complete publishing in all the local newspapers, or local magazines, but your name becomes familiar with the media. The next step is to hold a press conference. This isn’t as easy, but when you have something of value to your industry, or the community, get the press to know about it. Another great publicity method to get noticed is to submit articles. These can be company related. In other words, don’t sell yourself or the company, but write an article about the industry you are in and provide information, or suggestions on how to improve that industry. Publishers, editors like these types of articles. It attracts readers to their media, and you might just become an expert in you market that the media will turn to for information.

There are many other easy publicity techniques to get noticed. If you still need more suggestions, give us a call. We’ll be pleased to show you how to get your publicity campaign noticed locally, then nationally.

Your Online and Off-Line Efforts

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Too many cooks spoil the pot!

Every 15 to 20 years companies go through this cycle of hiring "specialists" to do the different functions for their marketing of products and services.

How to get pr, marketing doneThis can cause a juggling problem. For example, if you have a PR Agency, an Advertising Agency, then an Internet Marketing Agency, plus another company that handles all the printing for your sales and collateral materials…wow, that’s a lot of coordinating. Now just think of how all these different resources are going to work together. What, you mean they don’t? You haven’t invited all of them to have a general meeting?

Don’t panic, in this competitive climate of "we need to have it done today", pr clients as well as manufacturing company’s feel they need to hire a lot of experts to get the job done. Sometimes this can work. But more often, it gets to be a complicated and coordination nightmare.

I am not saying that one company can be all of these things, but maybe you need to seek a company that has the ability and connections to be the focal point for all your advertising, marketing, publicity and printing needs.

This way your time to do all the coordinating can better be applied to other internal job functions. Review your situation, tally up the hours and see if that justifies your efforts. If not, maybe it’s time to look outside for help. No, this doesn’t mean hire another company to add to the list of outside services. Rather hire a company that can streamline all these services, like us. Yes, we have the expertise to do many of the projects each department needs. And those we cannot handle in-house, we will then be your extension to coordinate the activities so that you don’t need to.

Being efficient is what we do best for our client, and yes, publicity is another major part of our many talents.

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Why RSS Is A Great PR Tool

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Twelve reasons to use RSS


RSS is here and you need to make this tool part of your business plan. Why?

If you need to ask, then maybe your company or pr agency is not ready to become a leader in your industry.

But if you are considering the advantages, I’ll give you about twelve reasons how RSS, Blogging, or a Blog site can improve your image, and gain favorable pr AND increase sales. Now remember, that publicity or an ad campaign cannot close a sale, but it can bring traffic to your site, or to your office.

Reasons to get a blog started:

  • Because blogs are short articles, they are best read when you have a strong headline.  Create news type headlines and make the article a story…but short, about 300 words and not more than 750 words.
  • Tell pr clients, or customers about upcoming events through your blog
  • Choose a specific day that you just have your thoughts expressed. It can be about a competitors product, or about the industry in general. All from your point of view
  • It’s a great way to announce new products, or the addition of staff
  • Tell potential and current clients about unique sites that they can benefit from, show the links to these sites
  • Newsletters. You probably do one now, or have a lot of saved information that can be written easily in short articles. Share that information and become recognized as a company helping customers, or pr clients with problems that usually arise in your industry

Well, I only have time to give you six of the twelve. Need to know the rest. Contact me and I’ll share that and more with you.

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