Through the magic of Twitter, I came across an interesting article today on Inc.com that not only explains how PR can help companies become more successful, but also points out some of the common issues we as PR professionals commonly experience when it comes to our clients.

A PR veteran of 15 years, Geri Denterlein was asked by Inc. to take on the daunting task of explaining how PR works, and how some clients can better take advantage of what PR has to offer.

She chose to express this in an open letter to all “clients past, present, and future” and immediately hits on the point that, in the first meeting, many clients don’t always listen to explanations from their PR reps. Instead, they cut to the chase asking, “Can you get us on the front page of The Wall Street Journal?”
As Denterlein notes in the article, the short answer is “maybe yes,” but it’s also a long shot unless that particular client is truly stand-out. She also makes the following great point:

“PR is not advertising. Even if your publicist has top-notch newsroom contacts and is armed with a defined, disciplined message, it’s impossible to control the news. This fact, of course, is exactly what makes a mention of your company on the local 6 o’clock broadcast so valuable.”

The article goes on to offer some valuable advice to clients, such as being mindful of deadlines, returning calls quickly and offering pithy quotes. Deterlein also advises that clients actually listen to their PR professionals when they say a pitch angle isn’t working or even worth pitching. We know what the journalist may latch on to and what they won’t – asking us to pitch a “nonstory” will only make the company look bad and take the PR person one step back for the next time.

Deterlein offers more suggestions and gives examples of the good, the bad and the ugly in the PR world. While we at BLASTmedia can definitely identify with her point of view, we enjoy working with every single one of our clients…even if some may need a little more coaching than others along the way