General PR Tip #7 - Relationships, Relationships, Relationships

Too many times, the first time a company introduces themselves to a reporter is when an irate CEO or other senior executive drops them a little fan note about a published piece and oh-gee-how-come-we-didn't make the piece?

The question I come back with is more than typically "Why aren't you asking your PR/Marketing people that question?"

Instead, it's all the reporter's fault for overlooking The Firm, despite the fact that the company has some number of PR and marketing people on payroll, and sometimes even an external marketing firm being paid a monthly retainer of $5,000 or more per month.

The most honest and undiplomatic answer I am sometimes very tempted to give is "Because your PR firm and marketing people suck."

Google Desktop is a great thing. I can go back through all of my e-mail for about the last two years and come up with a nice neat concise number for the number of times a firm has sent me press releases, contacted me to request show briefings, has looked at the editorial calendar in advance and "pinged" me of their company's interest in a particular feature, and even review old correspondence.

Care to speculate on the number of times I am contacted by The Firm prior to the fan note from the CEO? More often than not, it's a small number, sometimes zero, sometimes 2-4 pieces. Very rarely, it's a larger number, but not much larger.

A good PR/marketing department develops relationships with the media.

What is a "relationship?" I'm not talking about marriage, kissing of the rear, or pictures of select editors in compromising positions.

However, your PR/marketing person should at least know a couple of media people who write stories by name (not the publishers; they just want your ad dollars),

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