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© 2025 Copyright, Jennifer R. Farmer

The PR Whisperer

Author, Crisis Communications Expert, Strategic Communications Advisor

Tag: public relations

Here’s How to Maximize Your Relationship with Your PR Pro

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You have work to do. And your trusted public relations professional wants to help. In order to maximize the relationship, there are a couple things to keep in mind.

Clearly define your goals and expectations.

At the start of any new working relationship – and any new campaign – it is important to clearly state your goals and expectations. When your publicist knows your goals, they will be better prepared to help you meet those goals. Additionally, sharing your expectations will help your publicist understand what you need in order to consider the relationship a meaningful one. Clearly defining your goals and expectations will also head off confusion and frustration on both sides. As you outline your expectations, take a beat to dialogue about realistic timelines and expectations.

Establish a Rhythm for Regular Meetings.

It is important to have a weekly or bi-weekly meeting with your communications rep or PR pro. This will ensure there is a good flow of information and space to raise and answer questions. The meetings need not be long; 30-45 minutes should suffice.

Understand that Building or Strengthening a Brand Takes Time.

Building a brand is about establishing a track record of doing the right thing. For this reason, brand positioning takes time. If you want to strengthen your brand, don’t expect microwave results. A strong brand is based on a series of good decisions, strategic engagements that occur over a period of time. When you hire a publicist, be prepared to invest for at least 6 months to one year, and longer when possible.

Provide as much notice as possible.

It takes time to pitch stories for publications. It also takes time to get a reporter to agree to cover an issue, event or campaign. Further, many of us need time to ideate and strategize about how to approach one problem or another. You will increase the likelihood of media coverage and campaign success, when you provide as much notice as possible to our PR team. If you want assistance writing and publishing an opinion essay, provide at least 3 weeks’ notice. If you want assistance garnering media coverage for the release of a report, provide at least 4-5 weeks. Have a conference coming up, try to provide at least 8 weeks’ notice. Certainly, many public relations professionals can work in situations where there is less notice, but the more notice, the greater the likelihood of coverage.

Remember that media coverage follows action.

Many people want media coverage. It’s important to know that media coverage follows action. The more you do, the more opportunities your team has to promote your work. What is more, the people who garner favorable media coverage are consistently engaged in action. Reporters will be more interested in your take on an issue if you can point to something you’re doing in response to the problem. Action usually precedes coverage.

If you follow these tips, you will be on your way to maximizing your relationship with your PR pro.

Jennifer R. Farmer is an author, lecturer and strategic communications advisor.  Check out our blog posts and subscribe for updates. 

 

The Path to Media Attention is Action

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Throughout my career, I’ve met countless people who had lofty dreams and larger-than-life aspirations. Most of them were passionate about a particular issue, and they wanted the world to know. It’s not hard to understand why; media attention offers a type of validation that signals to clients, potential clients, funders, allies and others that an individual is making a positive impact.

For much of my career, I’ve worked to help leaders and organizations receive media attention for the incredible work they were spearheading.

One thing is certain; media attention is highly addictive. Regardless of how much one gets, there’s usually a desire for a bit more. The exception, of course, is when the media is lambasting an individual. Outside of negative coverage, many people have an insatiable appetite for media coverage.

What I want us all to appreciate is the path to sustained media coverage is action. Action precedes coverage.

When I think about truly remarkable leaders, I realize that they are active; they are constantly doing something in furtherance of their calling or working to influence positive change.

Think about some of the highest profile individuals we know. Think of Tyler Perry for example. When Perry got the idea to produce stage plays, he reported investing all he had on his first show, only to attract a mere 30 people. I read somewhere that he spent $12,000 – his life savings at the time – on the show, rented out a theater and a little more than a couple dozen people showed up. He had this experience for years before ultimately finding success.

I’m uncertain if media coverage was the goal for Perry initially. He wanted to write amazing plays. The coverage he’s received is a byproduct of fulfilling his mission.

If you’re under pressure from colleagues who want to be recognized in the court of public opinion, encourage them to get busy doing the work. Help them tease out the pieces of their work that may be most appealing to the media and be a thought partner offering honest feedback. Listen for what’s unique about their work and then use the uniqueness as an entry point to pitch them to the media.

If you’re an executive desiring more publicity, the path to notoriety is sustained, long-term action. By “action,” I mean doing work that you truly care about, and work that fills a void.

For example, I recall arranging a meeting with media executives and colleagues from LIVEFREE who work on gun violence and mass incarceration. The discussion went well, and resulted in media coverage. While I set up the meeting, the discussion would have been futile if my colleagues didn’t have a body of work that demonstrated their promising approach to addressing gun violence and mass incarceration. Had they lacked experiential evidence of their work, the interview may have gone poorly.

I want us all to understand that a communicator’s role is to amplify; it’s to serve as a megaphone testifying to what is already occurring. They can’t create the action, but they can promote it once there is forward movement of your goals and work.

Moreover, understand that with increased coverage comes scrutiny. If you’re praying for a larger platform, be sure to carry an umbrella but you’ll have rain as well as sunshine.

The bottom line: If you want media attention, get busy working on your craft or your life’s purpose. I’m confident you’ll find that media coverage is a byproduct of sustained action.

Jennifer R. Farmer is the principal of Spotlight PR LLC.  Check out our blog posts and subscribe for updates. 

 

 

Avoid These Three Common PR Mistakes

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By Jennifer R. Farmer

If you are a public figure, you are likely to grant media interviews and respond to media inquiries. To boost your success and ensure a strong brand, avoid these common PR mistakes.

1. Getting Too Comfortable in Public Appearances or Media Interviews

One of the most common PR mistakes occurs when a leader gets too comfortable. When leaders no longer approach interviews or public appearances with the level of intentionality and care that they deserve, they are bound to make a mistake. This can happen when a person has extensive experience giving media interviews or public appearances, and therefore doesn’t believe they need to prepare. This can happen when a person knows a lot about the topic they are discussing; they can become over-reliant on their knowledge and fail to be diligent in preparation. When leaders get too comfortable, they may let their guard down, or be more playful than the current moment demands. When a leader gets too comfortable, they may say things that ordinarily they would not say. The antidote is to approach each interview or public event with precision and careful preparation. 

2. Going Off Script/Getting Off Message

You’ve seen this happen. A leader gets up to make a speech and before they get into the meat of their remarks, they may say, “I’m not going to use my written remarks,” or, “I’m going to go off script.” The crowd may get excited, believing that they are going to get an authentic version of the person before them. However, public relations staff, campaign managers and political consultants get scared because they know going off script is a recipe for disaster. When you give a speech, you’ve likely spent time thinking about what you want and need to say. When you plan your speech, you have likely do so from a place of calm. This allows the leader to think carefully about the main messages that must be conveyed. But when you scrap your remarks and “speak from the heart,” you could be moved by emotion and that’s not always a good thing. If the crowd is fired up, you may similarly get fired up and say something that may feel good in the moment, but will haunt you afterwards.

3. Speaking for Too Long

While it may be to an interviewer’s advantage to record a long interview with you, it is not always in a leader’s best interest to accept lengthy media interviews. Similarly, when you are giving public remarks, be mindful that you do not speak for too long. If you are giving a keynote speech, you may have a longer speech. But if you are solely offering remarks, keep those remarks tight and too the point. In an effort to take up space, some leaders will speak entirely too long. And in the multitude of words, there is always a chance that you may say something you should not say. If you can keep your remarks to 10-15 minutes, or 30 minutes in a key note, you stand a better chance of delivering focused and tight remarks.

For more tips, see this video on other PR mistakes.

Jennifer R. Farmer, known as The PR Whisperer, is a crisis communications expert, podcast host, and small business owner.  When she is not working, she enjoys visiting and reviewing bakeries.

Four Questions Communicators Should Ask at the End of the Year

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What are you asking yourself to inform how you operate next year?

By Jennifer R. Farmer

I love to hear people say, ‘you’re not asking the right questions.’ There is an art in learning to ask the right questions, and asking the right questions will help you develop an appropriate course of action. We cannot always get what we need and want if we do not ask the right questions.

To that end, I am trying to develop a practice of getting curious and of asking the right questions. And the end of the year is a perfect time to reflect on the prior year and what I want for the next. Here are four questions I think all communicators should ask, particularly at the end of the year.

  1. What is working? The end of the year is a good time to assess what strategic communications tools worked that year and which ones did not. In many offices, things tend to slow down towards the end of the year, and this lull can be great for reflecting. There are things that I routinely do, that I realized this year, are not worth the time. I am committing to making changes in 2024 and beyond. Have you thought about what has worked and what you may want to change?
  2. What is working now but may not work in the future? In the ever-changing media landscape, I am clear that some of the things we do today to generate media may not work in the future. For instance, the emergence of AI will change how we pitch, how we contact reporters, and how we land stories. I imagine that some of the software that public relations professionals use to gather information will become more intuitive; we’re not just talking about helping you generate the right headline, but also helping you identify which reporters are most likely to cover your story. What are you doing to prepare for the changes that AI has wrought?
  3. What is my plan to grow my email and SMS list? Over time, brands will continue to develop their own content platforms. This continues to be an effective way of distributing a message, and getting your audience to take action. The end of the year and the beginning of a new year, when communications professionals are writing strategic communications plans, is a good time to assess the growth in your email and SMS lists. What steps are you taking to grow these lists?
  4. Was my budget sufficient to meet prior and anticipated needs? The end of the year is a good time to assess whether you budget was sufficient and whether it was effectively allocated. For instance, was there funding for sponsoring events and workshops? Was there funding for social media advertising? Was there funding for speakers should you decide to convene more in person events? Was there funding for professional development? Where there conferences that you wanted to invest in last year but were restrained due to your budget. Your budget determines your engagement so carefully think about where you want to engage and the cost for doing so. Thinking through this periodically throughout the year and certainly at the end of the year will set you up for success in the year to come.
  5. Who did I build relationships with and who do I still need to connect with? I remind myself all the time that there are people who would cover the work I care about if I and my clients have the relationships with them. Building relationships with reporters is not just a good idea, it is a necessary idea. At the end of the year, I tend to assess who I want to know and work with the following year. From there, I think through strategies to engage such people. I also ask my network who they know that I should know and vice versa.

If you use the end of the year to reflect on the prior year, what questions do you ask of yourself and/or your team? Also, in what other end of year planning are you engaged?

What Makes a Good Spokesperson

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By Jennifer R. Farmer

All your life, you’ll need to communicate. But if you’re a business leader or executive, your success depends – in part – on how well you communicate. Certainly, if you are tasked with being the voice or face of an organization or campaign, you’ll want to communicate effectively. You’ll want to become a good spokesperson, and doing so will boost your and your organization’s effectiveness.

The question becomes then, “What makes a good spokesperson?” Good spokespeople do at least these five actions (if you prefer to watch or listen to this content, visit my YouTube page):

  • Tell a story. Years ago, I frequently visited a church in Indianapolis called Eastern Starr. I loved the service. The worship was always moving and powerful. But the sermons were masterful. The pastor – Jeffrey Johnson Sr. – was relatable and engaging. It was easy to follow his sermons and understand the points he was making. But I was most impressed with his ability to end on a powerful note. He gave multiple examples throughout the sermon but always ended with a story. He would always say, “I see, you still don’t understand,” and then lead into a story that further drove the sermon home. It was great, and I found myself looking forward to his sermons for that reason. You do not need to be Johnson, but you need to find a compelling and authentic way to tell a story while you’re communicating. A good – indeed great – spokesperson knows how to tell a relevant story in a way that leaves listeners or readers on the edge of their seats.
  • Give the audience what it wants. Good spokespeople know their audience. They understand exactly whom they are talking to and what their audience thinks and feels. They know their audience’s pain points. They know what their audience is searching for and what their audience needs, and they do their best to deliver. There is nothing like communicating with someone who knows you or takes the time to know you.
  • Meet a need. Everyone has a need. Your audience will listen to the extent that your content meets its need. Your job is to determine pain points and speak to those pain points, being careful to outline a solution.
  • Eliminate distractions so their message is received. Good spokespeople scan for distractions and work hard to remove distractions so their audience can hear them. Distractions could be speaking too fast or too slow. Distractions could be technology issues such as a faulty microphone or an unclear image. Distractions could also be wearing something that could take the focus off of their words. Before you speak, think about whether there is anything that would distract from your message, and if there is, work to eliminate the distractions.
  • Good spokespeople practice. They practice delivering a message while being careful to evaluate what went well and what they could improve. Good spokespeople understand that communicating well doesn’t happen overnight nor that past success is inoculation from failure. Therefore, good spokespeople practice. They look for opportunities to sharpen their communication skills, understanding that the more they do so, the better they become.

Being able to communicate well is a life skill. It is worth the investment. But please know that like anything else, being a great communicator takes time. Invest the time, and you’ll never regret doing so.

For more information, see my YouTube page.

 

Your Opinion Essay Was Accepted for Publication; What Happens Now?

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If I have said it once, I have said it lots of times. Opinion essays are a fantastic way of sharing thought leadership, furthering an argument, and adding to an existing or nonexistent debate. To be clear, opinion essays are guest columns that run opposite the editorial page in print papers or in digital outlets’ opinion sections. You increase the likelihood of getting your essay published if you submit it as soon as there is breaking news. As soon as means within 24 hours of an issue breaking or a topic you care about appearing in the news cycle.

In an era of media contractions, opinion essays are also a viable option for elevating a leader, brand, or organization. While we know they have merit, we don’t always know what to do after a publication has agreed to publish an opinion piece.

While I talk a lot about the merits of opinion essays, including in a video I developed about why brands and leaders should utilize opinion essays to amplify their work, until now I haven’t focused on what happens after a publication agrees to publish your opinion essay. Here are eight tips to keep in mind once you learn that your opinion essay will be published.

  1. Many outlets require exclusivity. Once a publication decides to publish your essay, it may require exclusivity, meaning it wants sole rights to publish your piece.
  2. You may not submit your essay to any other publication, email it out or otherwise share it before it is published. Once you share an unpublished piece, it cannot run in other platforms because, as noted in No. 1, many publications require exclusive rights to your essay once they accept it – and you agree – for publication.
  3. Some publications pay for opinion essays. Some publications pay a flat fee for opinion essays, and others pay based on the number of views your essay receives. If the publication pays, payment will come after the piece is published.
  4. You may be asked to sign a copyright agreement giving the publication permission to publish your piece, run it exclusively and have certain rights to the piece, such as publishing it in other outlets.
  5. The paper may give you a publication date, but that date can change. If there is breaking news, the publication may need to publish unanticipated opinion essays on the breaking news. So, the date is a target but not etched in stone.
  6. The publication can change the title of your essay, and no it does not need your permission to do so. Publications, like everyone else, want their content to be viewed. They, in fact, need it for advertising and revenue purposes. They also write titles all day long and know what is likely to attract readers and what titles people will skip right over. As such, they often change headlines. If the headline they select is a nonstarter, you can always request a change, but know that there are no guarantees.
  7. The opinion essay may not be online first thing in the morning. You know how your bank updates your account balances first thing in the morning, sometimes before dawn? Publications have no obligation to do that. Just because your essay isn’t online first thing in the morning doesn’t mean the publication doesn’t intend to use it. I’ve seen publications update their websites around 10 a.m., first thing in the morning or as late as 2 p.m. It all depends on internal policies, whether the digital editor is working that day or others are filling in, etc. So, do not panic if your piece is not published early. It’s OK.
  8. Sometimes your piece will run online and in print. Although we’re in a digital age, some publications still have printed papers. And depending on the article, your story could land in both places. I’ve seen this happen with local papers more than other publications.

Bonus: You have a responsibility to amplify your opinion piece. When you speak or communicate, you want to be heard. You want as many people to hear or read your comments as the publication. Getting an opinion piece placed is the first step. The next is to amplify your work by sending your essay link to your email list, family and friends. Be sure to also send it to journalists with whom you have a relationship or are cultivating a relationship. That not only helps you, but it helps the publication.

Now that you’ve received confirmation that your opinion essay will be published, these tips will help ensure you know what to expect. They will keep you from making mistakes that could thwart publication of your piece. They will also guide you on your opinion essay crafting and publishing journey.

 

Jennifer R. Farmer is the author of “Extraordinary PR, Ordinary Budget: A Strategy Guide” and “First and Only: What Black Women Say About Thriving at Work and in Life.”

 

Marketing Yourself Is Part of the Work

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This past year has been filled with many opportunities to learn and numerous invitations to reconsider how I have approached various issues in my personal and professional life. I’m not going to lie, some of what I learned was downright painful. But when I took a step back and really reflected on the progress and pain of 2021, I realized that every situation was an opportunity to grow. One of the most important reminders I have had this year is the importance of working on and in my business. That means that in addition to servicing my clients, I need to be intentional about marketing or promoting the work I’m doing. But as anyone who cares about their work knows, it is quite easy to focus on the work and nothing else. To be sustainable, I cannot – and neither can you – be so focused on service delivery that I neglect telling my own story.

That is key, because there must be balance. Any business that wants to succeed must strike a balance between investing in the business and executing the work of the business. That sounds simple enough in theory, and we all retreat to our comfort zones. My confront zone is my work, and it is second nature to think about and do my work. The shift is to see marketing and promotion myself as a part of the work. I’m committing to make that shift in 2022.

As we enter a new year, I hope we remember that this year is filled with new possibilities. I’ve committed that I will be more intentional about marketing what I do. I hope you will join me. We all have a story to tell.

 

 

What You Can Expect as a New Communicator

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If you’re prepping for your first day in an entry-level communications position, you’re probably unsure what to expect. You may have questions about the company culture, or perhaps you want to know the rules of engagement for navigating your new environment. If this is the position you find yourself, you will love this post. From being a brand ambassador to learning different parts of the organization, below is a list of what every new communicator should know prior to stepping into that communications position.

You’ll be captain of the company fan club. To be effective in communications and public relations, you must believe in your company’s vision, mission and purpose. The work is too hard to be a less eager enthusiast. For all of the organizations I have worked for, I have believed in their mission. I may have had concerns with the internal workings or the management style, and that is not to be taken likely, but the reason I stayed was because I believed in the broader vision. The vision also aligned with my viewpoints and life’s calling. In these cases, I didn’t mind putting in long hours, because I believed the company was making a difference.

You’ll learn more than you imagine. One of the best parts of my career in communications is having had an opportunity to work on a host of campaigns that I might not ordinarily have engaged. Because communicators are among the few departments that touch an entire organization, communicators have an opportunity to learn a ton. For instance, if your organization has three main issues areas, chances are you’ll have to work with those departments to help communicate their work internally and externally.

Your colleagues will become future references. Even if your first job isn’t ideal or you don’t love your supervisor, you may need them in the future. Everyone knows someone and each time you apply for a job, the new employer may knowingly or unknowingly contact former colleagues for references. Find a co-worker you connect with, and who could serve as a reference when you do move on. In the best of circumstances, recognize when you have a really amazing boss and/or team, and make the effort to stay in touch. Long term professional relationships and mentors are incredibly valuable. You may not even realize how much you learned or how talented your colleagues or boss were until you’re not working with them anymore.

You’ll work hard, but it will be worth it. PR is one of the most fascinating career fields. Every day is different.  You may literally go from flying high after a major event to reeling from an unexpected crisis. One day you could be celebrating a huge grant and another you could be staffing your CEO who is speaking at the World Economic Forum. Whatever it is – it’s likely to occasionally go beyond a strict 9am – 5pm job. If you’ve managed a major event, one where you garnered media attention, you’ll find yourself getting up before dawn to search for media coverage of your event. Your schedule may be unpredictable, but it will also be exciting. PR people are on the front lines and that means you will learn the skills necessary to not only be a great PR person, but a real leader.

You’ll occasionally meet non-communications staffers who think they can do your job. You read that right. Communications is a highly skilled arena, but people who do it well, do it so well that others think it’s easy. I don’t want to suggest that communicators shouldn’t accept feedback or solicit ideas from people outside of the communications department. Some of the best ideas for campaigns are co-created with legal counsel, development, political or organizing staff. That being said, you should expect that many people will see you work effortlessly and believe they can do your job. When this happens, offer context and remind your colleagues that a leader wouldn’t send a communicator into a court room and ask that individual to argue a case nor should someone untrained in managing communications be sent in unaided and uninstructed to lead a press conference or arrange a company public affairs campaign.

There, now you have it. These are a few things you should know as an entry-level communicator. With this insight, you’re well on your way to a successful career in communications and public relations.

Jennifer R. Farmer is a strategic communicator, lecturer and the author of “Extraordinary PR, Ordinary Budget: A Strategy Guide.” Connect with her on Facebook.com/Tips4ExtraordinaryPR or visit www.jenniferrfarmer.org.

When You Commit to Hiring Communicators, Commit to do These Four Things as Well

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You may be looking to expand your communications team, or build one (assuming you’ve received funding to do so) from the ground up. If you’re looking to hire communications and public relations all-stars, here are four things you should do:

1.) Commit resources to invest in staff salary/benefits as well as professional development. In communications, as in other critical industries, you will get what you pay for. And trust me, you don’t want to shortchange the people who help you maintain a trusted brand. As you develop the compensation package for communicators and #PR pros, adopt a wholistic approach to attract and retain talent. In addition to a competitive salary and benefits package, be sure to include other incentives such as a fund for professional development, resources for your communicator to travel to conferences to network with journalists and communicators, and any other reasonable benefit that your team flags as desirable. Year-over-year, jobs in public relations have been deemed to be among the 10 most stressful, according to CBS News. Since public relations pros are (or should be) among the first to learn of an organizational crisis, and must be available for rapid response, it’s important to reward them accordingly. Part of attracting a talented team is making a commitment to invest in salary and benefits as well as other things that make the job more attractive.

2.) Include your communications team early and often. It takes time to develop a communications strategy for organizational campaigns or programs. Since it’s ineffective to develop tactical responses without a broader context for the work, don’t make a habit of bringing in communicators at the 11th hour. Additionally, communicators are relying on journalists, producers and TV or radio hosts to help them tell your story, and members of the media need advance notice. They need lead time to pitch a story idea to an editor, interview other sources to determine the validity or impact of an issue, or fit in your story with the others they’re working on. It’s a sign of respect (for your team and the journalists your work with) when you include your communications team at the beginning of a campaign, at the outset of a campaign, or very quickly after a campaign has begun. By including them early on in your planning, you are giving them a chance to work effectively on your behalf and also showing them that you value them and their contributions.

3.) Keep your communications team close. When I was starting out in communications, I worked for the Service Employees International Union/District 1199 (KY/WV/OH) and had the privilege of working with labor leader Dave Regan, and later with his successor, Becky Williams. I didn’t realize it at the time, but they granted me a huge advantage by including me in media interviews. By including me, I mean both Regan and Williams included me in phone and face-to-face conversations with reporters. This allowed me to learn more about our union, and our leadership’s position on any number of issues. It also assisted in developing relationships with reporters. As a bonus, after a period of time of sitting in on interviews, I really learned the voice of our leadership and was able to be an effective spokesperson on their and the union’s behalf. If you’re hiring a communicator, see the person as important enough to keep at your right hand.

4.) Make a commitment to hire a diverse staff from the perspective of race, gender, age and career background. So many brands make terrible mistakes, and I imagine some of these mistakes can be attributed to the fact the people charged with vetting their commercials and content, are dominated by people from one or two backgrounds. Without a diverse staff, you may not consistently understand how organizational behavior impacts people from different communities. In addition to race, gender and age diversity, you also need diversity in terms of career background. A well-rounded communications team ideally should have people who have a journalism, public relations, advocacy and/or political background. You’ll want people who have experience in working for either a Public Relations agency, an in-house Public Relations team, a political campaign or advocacy organization. Experience working as a public relations consultant is also beneficial. The key is not developing a team that is homogenous from the standpoint of career background and career experience. The diversity in career background will ensure you have people who think and see the world differently.

Jennifer R. Farmer is a strategic communicator and author of Extraordinary PR, Ordinary Budget. She’s based in Washington, D.C. Follow her on Twitter @Farmer8J or on Facebook at Facebook.com/Tips4ExtraordinaryPR

How to Relentlessly Advocate for What You Believe In

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There’s no escaping the fact that communications and public relations work involves an element of rejection. In PR, the rejection likely comes from reporters who may not be interested or available to cover a story idea you’ve pitched. Rejection also occurs when the strategy you’ve proposed to meet an organizational challenge is overlooked or summarily dismissed.

I’ve been a communicator for more than 15 years, and I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard “no” from organizational leaders and members of the media alike. Bo Bennett’s quote, “rejection is nothing more than a necessary step in the pursuit of success” rings true.

For all the stories I’ve pitched and placed, countless others didn’t see the light of day. For all of the meetings I’ve requested with members of the media, many were flat out denied, and in some cases, I didn’t get a response at all.

Dealing with rejection is hard. But overcoming rejection and being resilient is critical to being an effective advocate. I focus on relentlessness in my new book, “Extraordinary PR, Ordinary Budget: A Strategy Guide,” and here are five things I’ve learned that may help you relentlessly advocate for the organizations and causes you support:

  • Believe in Something qualitat prohormone mit versand Bigger Than Yourself. From my experience, the key to being relentless is believing in something bigger than yourself. When we believe in something bigger than ourselves, we are likely to stick with it. We’re passionate when we talk about it, and that passion is contagious. When we believe in something, we’ll go to the ends of the earth fighting for it. In my book, “Extraordinary PR, Ordinary Budget,” I talk about being on a campaign with the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP and how I believed so strongly in the campaign that I traveled to North Carolina almost weekly to support it. From my first encounter in with the campaign and the people supporting it, I determined I would do whatever was necessary to support the movement.

What I learned from this experience is that you cannot effectively promote something you do not actually embrace. If you believe in something, you’ll stick with it even when the going gets tough.

  • Know that There’s Always a Silver Lining. Sometimes “No!” comes with a silver lining. A “no” with an explanation may be viewed just as favorably as an immediate “yes, I’ll cover your story.” For instance, I asked a member of my team to pitchThe Washington Post on a guest column about the systemic oppression of Native Americans. The Washington Post declined to publish the piece. When we politely inquired as to the basis for the decision, we learned that the essay was submitted too close to the desired publication date. We had submitted the piece for consideration on the Tuesday before the Sunday we had hoped the column would run, which was also opening day of the 2014 professional football season. The feedback from the publication allowed us to better establish internal deadlines to place opinion pieces going forward.

Relentlessness is about patience and persistence. Had we not pressed for an answer, we may not have known The Post’s desired lead time for nonurgent opinion pieces. Had we stopped at the first, second or third “no” – we had pitched the piece to The National Journal, Politico and The Washington Post before MSNBC.com agreed to run it – our piece would never have been placed. Failing to place an opinion piece is losing an opportunity to share your message.

  • Remember, “No!” Isn’t Always Permanent. Just because a reporter or producer doesn’t bite on a story idea today doesn’t mean the idea is permanently doomed. He or she could be sidelined covering breaking news, on work or personal travel, or juggling multiple stories. There’s also a possibility the reporter didn’t see your pitch or press release if you sent it electronically and didn’t follow up with a call. The bottom line is that there are a lot of factors that could cause a reporter to decline your pitch, but that doesn’t mean he or she won’t be willing to consider your source, angle or material in the future.
  • Don’t Allow “No” to Ruin a Relationship. Journalists aren’t obligated to cover your issues. While getting reporters and producers to cover your work is key, it’s not worth losing a relationship over. So, don’t come unglued if you don’t receive the response you were hoping for. Practically speaking, journalists often move from beat to beat and from media outlet to media outlet. You’d feel bad to have ruined a relationship with a member of the media only to have to pitch to that person again if he or she moved to a different beat or media outlet.
  • Know When to Back Off. If a reporter hasn’t responded to multiple emails or a couple of phone calls, you can safely assume he or she is not interested in covering your story. After multiple attempts to reach a reporter by email and phone, don’t continue to press for a response. The reporter’s continued silence is all the response you need. Similarly, if you receive an unequivocal, “No, I am not interested in covering this story ever” response, move on.

Ultimately, relentlessness is about seeing denial as a temporary, rather than permanent, fixture. It’s about viewing denial as an opportunity to tweak and refine, especially if you are lucky enough to receive feedback. It’s not, however, about pestering reporters or others into submission. Used effectively, the principle can lead to impressive results. To learn more, pick up a copy of my new book “Extraordinary PR, Ordinary Budget (Berrett-Koehler Publishers).”

 

Jennifer R. Farmer is managing director for communications for PICO National Network and the founder of Spotlight PR LLC, whose mission is to develop and distribute high-impact communications trainings and workshops. Follow her on Facebook at Facebook.com/Tips4ExtraordinaryPR and Twitter @Farmer8J.

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