One important quality top PR leaders share is a passion for learning, experimenting, and growing. Even though the field is timeless, it’s also one that evolves constantly thanks to new social media channels and communication mediums.
As a result, PR leaders have to wade through lots of noise.
Some reporters, for instance, are difficult to reach due to the hundreds of pitches that they’re receiving per day via e-mail and Help a Reporter Out (HARO). What PR leaders need are techniques to stand out and outsmart the accidental mess created by the industry.
This process involves learning and experimentation with new communication, content marketing, and information management tools—more importantly, it involves a paradigm shift in how the PR industry builds connections with the media world.
The time to explore and try new techniques has never been better. Here are 7 resources to help you make the most out of your next brain break.
1 – This TED Talk from Life Coach Tony Robbins
Watch time: 22 minutes
Titled ‘Why We Do What We Do,’ this TED talk dives into the heart of motivation—which Robbins explains to be only partially driven by money or self interest. Robbins argues that creativity and determination are the ultimate currency and encourages people to spend time thinking about what it is “that shapes us.”
While this talk isn’t PR-centric, it is directly relevant to the challenges that media executives, marketing specialists, and account managers face each day. It’s really really hard to get a journalist’s attention and to manage client expectations. Success, in the everyday, comes from hustle, relentless cold-pitching, and asking.
This talk will help PR leaders learn how to build more empathetic connections—and stand out from the industry status quo of noise, chaos, and information overload.
2 – This Lean Startup Conference Talk from FunnyBizz Founder Rachman Blake
Watch time: 5 minutes
In the PR industry, hustle is a professional’s most valuable asset. When cold pitching, building media lists, and reaching out to busy journalists, it can be challenging to stand out and make an impact—in fact, the majority of your emails are probably going ignored.
Blake, an entrepreneur with a marketing and stand-up comedy background, has learned that humor can help. The challenge, however, is that most people struggle to be funny. Unless you know what you’re doing, it’s hard.
Luckily, humor is a trait that anyone can develop—with success evolving from structure, practice, and process. This talk explains ‘best practices,’ with examples of tactics to try.
3 – This Guide to Medium from Buffer
Read time: 30 minutes
As a growing blogging platform and community, Medium provides a fun and engaging way for people to share their ideas. From a marketing perspective, however, the platform provides more—much more.
In addition to being a resource for bloggers to share their ideas, Medium is also a powerful distribution channel. Leveraging their existing distribution channels, some companies are amassing tens of thousands of followers in a matter of months (this actually happened at one company where I’m writing).
PR leaders may be curious about Medium but confused about how to build distribution and leverage the platform from a business perspective. The fact is that ‘viral’ campaigns don’t happen overnight—success on Medium needs strategy rather than luck. This blog post helps by walking through ideas for tactics that you should try.
4 – This Book on Finding Your Breakthrough Idea by Dorie Clark
Read time: 3 hours
For PR leaders, ideas are everything. Even the most awesome clients and companies need breakthrough stories to forge relationships with the media. Sales pitches, generic business advice, and product launches may be interesting—but they aren’t news.
As Clark points out, the process of becoming a recognized expert is “a mysterious and opaque process.” In this book, she explains how to navigate this complicated journey. You’ll learn:
- How to identify ideas to set you apart
- How to promote them
- How to build a community of followers
These tips will give you a set of proven methods and processes to share with your clients. As Clark puts it:
“It’s not about self-promotion. It’s about changing the world for the better while giving you the ultimate career insurance.”
5 – This PR, Marketing, and Media Czars Facebook Group
Read time: Ongoing
In marketing and PR, the best way to learn is from the people who have been exactly where you are now. By sharing tips, leads, insights, and resources, we’re better positioned to navigate uncertainty and noise.
Branded as “publicists who actually like other publicists,” this 16,000 person community will connect you with new insights, people, and opportunities to help you bounce ideas and learn about new opportunities.
Rather than ‘reading’ the threads in this group, you can casually browse information in your Facebook News Feed. It’s a simple and passive way to discover and absorb new information.
6 – This Guide to Startup PR from OnStartups
Read time: 30 minutes
Even for the most seasoned PR pros the process of generating media exposure is hard. This blog post, written by one of the world’s most visible startup founders, can help.
With this guide, you’ll get a list of actionable tactics, along with demonstrated examples, to try. You’ll learn the following:
- How to ensure that people remember what your startup does
- How to find reporters who can help (and who you can help too)
- How to get featured on the sites that you’d like for your business
What differentiates this resource from many others is that it’s written from the perspective of someone who didn’t have a PR budget and was looking at the media landscape with a very fresh eye. Rather than pitching journalists, he spent time building out a platform for storytelling. You’ll learn about the channels that he leveraged, the results that he achieved, and the ‘best practices’ that he uncovered along the way.
7 – This SlideShare Describing What 500 Journalists Seek Out in a Pitch
Read time: 15 minutes
As this SlideShare presentation eloquently explains—”this is a story about a noise:value ratio that has gotten out of whack.” PR professionals outnumber editorial voices by 5:1, meaning that journalists are likely bombarded.
The best way to stand out is to return to the basics—to write an awesome pitch.
Based on a survey of more than 500 editors at publications like Time, BuzzFeed, Upworthy, and Scientific American, this SlideShare presentation will help you accomplish this goals. Learn from actual journalists and improve your pitching style with this (blunt) collection of tips and best practices.
Final thoughts
What have you read recently that you’ve found interesting, inspiring, and helpful? Share your words of wisdom with the rest of the PR community. Pick resource #8 on this list by leaving a comment for this blog post below. Let’s keep learning and growing together.
Photo Credit: Peshkova/ShutterStock
Ritika Puri
Ritika Puri is a data-lover and marketer turned entrepreneur and writer. Ritika works with content marketers to build lead pipelines and has written for Forbes, The Next Web, Business Insider, and American Express OPEN Forum.Disclaimer: The author's views are entirely their own, and don't necessarily reflect the opinions of BuzzStream.
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