You may be a natural salesman, and your clients may indeed love you, but you're playing a different game when you’re contacting the media. You are entering a very specific phone world. You may be a great person one-on-one, with a winning smile and a firm handshake, but that won't get you far over the phone. You may be an extremely successful high-pressure telemarketer, but remember, here you're dealing with a different, more weary, more sophisticated audience. Making PR follow-up calls can be a difficult proposition. Be candid with yourself. Do you have a personality that works over the phone? If the phone intimidates you, or if you come off gruff, demanding, or impatient over the phone, don't make the calls yourself, hire someone to make them on your behalf.
You need to be painfully honest with yourself. Most of us don't like to admit that there are areas that aren't our forte. But none of us are proficient in everything. Developing a good pitch and writing a strong press release are important, but you also need to have an effective follow-up plan, which could include learning to communicate differently.
Don't try to be everything to all people. If you're uncomfortable on the phone, too demanding, or too pushy, you're only going to hurt your chances for success. You may be a good general in your business, but what you need here is a diplomat. You may not even be aware that you have a weak phone voice, or you're too aggressive, or your tone is too confrontational over the phone. Stand back and evaluate yourself objectively. Ask someone who you trust to give you feedback. It will do you no good to alienate the media by making poor follow-up calls. Know you strengths and your weaknesses. It will pay off in the long run.
Copyright © Anthony Mora 2008
The PR Follow-up Ph.D - To learn more about this author, visit Anthony Mora's Website.
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Anthony Mora
(Visit Anthony's Website)
Anthony Mora Communications, Inc. is a Los
Angeles-based public relations firm that
focuses in the areas of media relations,
image development and media training.
Anthony Mora Communications regularly
places clients in major media outlets,
including Time, Newsweek, Oprah, the New
York Times, CNN, the Today Show, the Wall
Street Journal and hundreds of other media
outlets. Through media placement, you are
not presented within the context of an ad
or commercial. You're not positioned as
an ad but as the news.
President and CEO, Anthony Mora, has been
featured in: USA Today, Newsweek, The New
York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The
Wall Street Journal, The BBC, CNN, E!
Entertainment Television, Entrepreneur,
Fox News, MSNBC, and other media. He has
written three books, the most the most
recent, a how-to on PR called Spin to
Win.
For further information visit:
www.AnthonyMor
a.com
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