Due to a combination of forward-planning, outsourcing and frankly, software sorcery, I am sending you this whilst I’m away for a week.
Yep, on one of those holiday things people talk about but business owners often miss.
You see, I wanted to flag something important, just in case you were thinking of getting some work “off your desk” before the Bank Holiday mirth begins.
Imagine you’ve just spent the best part of a month planning to announce some news. It could be a new product, a new hire or a company milestone.
You’ve drafted and approved the press release and hopefully invested in some photography to really bring the story to life. Now, let’s hope you have either called your key press targets or, if you have a PR agency or consultant on board, they have done it for you.
All being well, with a strong story and good images, you should be getting one of three results:
- Press love it and publish it ASAP. If so, thank them and start leveraging the valuable content. Tweet it, blog about it. Send an e-shot to your database.
- Press like it but will put it on the back-burner for a day/week due to deadlines or another feature that will be boosted by your news hook.
- Press love it but need some extra info. Perhaps another quote from the MD in light of other breaking news in your sector which chimes nicely with your story. They might want to take their own picture – this does happen.
No problem you say…but wait…the MD is away for the summer break. There’s no way we can contact her for a quote as she’s unreachable. A picture is out of the question. You might say these things can’t be helped…but they can.
It is all about your timing of the release. Work with the information you have.
If the press call you out of the blue for an opinion and your MD is away then that can’t be helped (still try though) but when you are the proactive party, you know the limits and timings.
So, whatever you do, next time you have a story to get out…please make sure you can add further comment or play ball with press requests.
If you can’t, wait until the timing is better. PR is a long-term game.