David Henderson, Emmy Award winning journalist and former CBS Network News correspondent, recently posted about something we at BLAST have always preached - Public Relations does not equal press releases. Henderson even comments that receiving unsolicited press releases is the No. 1 pet peeve of journalists.

While we certainly do write press releases at BLAST for major client announcements (and include an "about" section at the end, sorry Henderson) - we are very careful with how often, to whom and how we distribute them. They are never sent unsolicited. Editors still ask for press releases when they want more information, though it seems less and less every year. We are successful in PR because of the media relationships we have, not how well we know AP style. Unfortunately, many agencies still rely too heavily on press releases and sell their clients on how well they can write and distribute them. Sure, we can do press releases, but we don't use that as a selling point to new clients - we talk about our relationships. I know that Web site is always two words, capital W, but I get client coverage because I have personal connections with editors who cover Web sites (not because I know the correct spelling.)

I'm glad BLAST gets it. Having worked previously at a large agency, it is interesting that I never had really strong media relationships until I was in an environment that fostered the idea. Is relationship building crucial in your line of work, and how do you make those connections?