TOW: Leads? So What?

This week I got the opportunity to take the News U The Lead Lab Course. This course was intended to help any kind of writer, whether a journalist, a reporter, or a public relations professional, to be able to write better, more interesting leads. Leads are very important to a story. Some might argue that they are the most important part of the story. The lead is what helps draw the public in and makes them want to hear what you have to say.

This lab taught everything there is to know about how to write a lead. It started at the basics with the typical who, what, where, when, why, how, and so what approach (the “so what” was new to me). Then it went into the more detailed approach of revising your leads with the lead toolkit. It also talked about the commonly accepted myths and gave you the opportunity to write a lead of your own.

The main thing that I learned with this lab was that the lead does not have to be great the first time you write it. It can sometimes be helpful just to get it out, work on it a little, write the story, then come back to it later and make it great. With the revising toolkit I learned the questions to ask to make any lead better.

The thing that surprised me about this lab was the overwhelming use of many different kinds of leads. I was always accustomed to the typical 4 w’s and a H approach. It is refreshing to learn that you can make a lead more fun and interesting while still being informative.

I do not think that this lab left me wanting for anything. I enjoyed the good lead examples so maybe a few more of those but other than that I thought that the lab was informative and very helpful.

Pitch like a Reporter

As I come to the end of my undergraduate career (finishing up my senior year) I find myself making connections that I never would have imagined as a freshman. For example, when first attending Georgia Southern I always asked myself why we were required to take core classes. I was a public relations major, how was a biology class going to help me? Why did I need to take political science? How was geology going to help me with my future career? I know realize that all of these classes come together to make a person a good student and a good learner. As far as helping with PR, I may someday have a client that runs a lab and I may need to know some of the basic biology or geometry language. I may one day work for a politician or for the government, in which case my political science education might come in handy.

Another class I was required to take was journalism and news reporting and writing. I thought that the only purpose of taking these classes was because of the close relation of public relation professionals and journalist. I thought those classes would help to gain a respect for the profession that I would have to work with for my entire career.

Then I came across this article with tips about pitching your story to a reporter and I realize that those classes taught me something else too. I learned what is and isn’t important in a news story. This will be put to use as a public relations practitioner because I will be able to pitch stories that I know are newsworthy and will make the cut for the broadcast or the final version of the paper. I know how to do this because I have been taught the basics that all journalist and reporters are taught. I have taken the same classes and learned the same rules. I can speak their language and I can give them what they need to get a good story out to the public.

Source: The key to catching a reporter’s eye? Pitch like one

Internet= Intelligence or Incompetence

In todays fast pace high pressure world, the internet is vitally important to us. It is the way we communicate to each other. It is the way we learn. It is the way we grow. However is it possible that the internet is actually stunting our growth?  Nicholas Carr, author of “The Shallows”, suggests just that. In a blog post that quotes Carr it stated that because of the nature of how people are trained to “read” when online (by scanning instead of taking in the entirety) it is starting to decay our brains. I am not sure if I agree with Carr but this got me to thinking of the challenges that face public relations professionals today.

In the days when newspapers were the most popular form of news, or the days when television was new and exciting people seemed to have a longer attention span or give a subject more time before disregarding it as irrelevant. Today we find that people give messages just a few seconds before deciding if they want to hear more or if they have had enough. This puts serious pressure on public relations professionals to hook the audience with something new and exciting in the opening seconds.

It is no longer enough that you message has good content, is interesting, and relevant. Now it has to have some kind of flash or draw to keep people’s attention. Even when pitching a story idea to a journalist or editor, you don’t have much time to get your message across before they move on to the next.

I think that the real problem is that there is so much information out there now that everybody knows that there is no way that we can effectively absorb it all. So the average person will try to take in bits and pieces of information to compensate. However, doing this leaves them missing out on the real meat of the subject. The true question that needs to be answered is how do we get people to realize that they are only hurting themselves by avoiding real information?

Source: Will reading this blog decay your brain?

New McDonalds’ Ad in France

There is a new McDonalds’ commercial that recently started airing in France that is intended to sent the message that McDonalds welcomes all people including gay people. When I first heard about this commercial I thought that it could have possibly been a good idea. I know that McDonalds’ has several different commercials to target many different audiences, why not the gay audience? However after watching this commercial I am left more than a little confused. The commercial starts out with a guy staring at a class photo then taking a call from his lover then hiding it from his father who is with him. The commercial ends with a slogan that says “come as you are.”

I think this commercial could have been much more effective. Maybe if they would have had the boy “come out” to his father while at a McDonalds’ that may have been better.  This could have possibly set the tone of McDonalds’ as a place where you can come and share moments with your family. However, even if they had don’t this, I still would have been left wondering “What does this have to do with food?”

I believe this was a good try on McDonalds part but ultimately unsuccessful. However this is the opinion of an American. Perhaps there will be a different response in France.

Source: Gay McDonalds Ad and RE: Gay McDonalds Ad

Facebook PR for Dummies

I came across an article written about how to best use Facebook Advertising. As I continued to read I realized that this could also be an article about how to incorporate Facebook in to PR Campaigns.  Of course we all know that advertising and public relations are very closely related. This is of course why they make public relations students at Georgia Southern take marketing and advertising classes. Our books tell us that the main difference between advertising and public relations is that you pay for advertising and public relations is free. In this article it talks about the best ways to utilize your funds with facebook. I was slightly confused because this article made it seem as if advertising on facebook is expensive when I have always heard that it is very cost effective. However, even if you are only spending a few dollars it is important to get as much as you can out of your money.

The topic that appealed to me the most from this article was about how to target the people you advertise to. If you simply create one ad and distribute it to everyone you are doing nothing bust wasting time, money, and advertising space. Facebook allows you to specify who you want to be able to view your ad. It is somewhat similar to the way that facebook lets you control who will or will not see your profile. Granted, the consequences of the two are different but the concept is the same.

I think that it is smart, not only on facebook but everywhere, to specify who you want your message to go out to. It can be a great waste of time, energy and money to work on a message that goes out to people who are not willing to receive it for whatever reason. It is possible that they may not be in the age range for your product, or they already have what you are promoting. Either way, a little research and preparation can save allot of expenses down the road.

Source: Facebook Advertising

TOW: No Comment

My first experience with blogs was quite recent. First I had to keep a blog for a previous class that I took. I didn’t really care much about this blog I just did the assignments I was given and didn’t even check to see if people commented on my posts.

My second blog was one that I wanted to do for myself. I became interested in the work that TOMS Shoes does around the world and I wanted to create a blog to track my journey to become an intern with TOMS Shoes. At first I didn’t really expect any public response, but after I received a few comments I became very excited. I was encouraged to write more and more every time I got a new comment.

I think that the main purpose that comments serve is to encourage the writer to continue writing. It lets the blogger know that there is an audience reading their post and interested enough to respond. If you are writing a blog, it can sometimes be discouraging when there is no response to your work.

I think that to write an effective blog comment the writer should first read the entire blog post. If you only read part of the post, you comment may not make much sense and be slightly confusing. Also I think that maybe it might be a little irritating to the blog writer to know that people are not receiving the entire message that they intended to get out.

Another tip I would say is to give a productive response. Don’t simply say “great post” or “I agree.” Also, if you disagree with the posts tell the writer why in a polite way. It is important to be respectful and courteous and build a good working relationship with fellow bloggers.

Chapter Fourteen: Writing E-mails, Memos, and Proposals

• Memos should be one page or less and should always include the date, subject, and message
• Proposals must follow a logical pattern, they are a big part of how PR professionals get new clients
• Email is fast and cost effective but it cannot be a substitute for personal contact
• A position paper gives the organizations perspective on a particular trend or industry
• Although email is less formal than a letter you should still pay attention to spelling and grammar
• Business letters should be well organized, concise, to the point

Source: Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques