Your PR Architect

By LuckyLouie at English Wikipedia [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons In a prior blog post , I decried the jargon-packed news release that introduced "tronc," the befuddled new name for Tribune Publishing. I wasn't the only one who thought: "What are these people trying to say?" NPR ran a story about it this morning. You can hear it here.  The tronc CEO makes a point, I guess. But it's still not a brand strategy I'd embrace if I needed to promote my editorial content.

Last week, this blog outlined the benefits of enlisting a PR professional to produce your business blog. When you share industry insights and winning strategies, your blog can be an effective instrument in your overall marketing ensemble. Writing and maintaining a blog is only half of the job. You also need a strategy to promote it. You can-- Link to your blog from your website.  Reference it in a Twitter post or LinkedIn user group.  Bring it to the attention of a Paper.li editor. Include links in your Constant Contact email.  Maybe even send out a news release. (How  retro .) Your blog is one instrument in your marketing ensemble. And yes, tell your friends. Should you use Facebook, Tumblr, and Pinterest to draw readers to your blog? It's a tough call. Facebook, first and foremost, is a social network. Your friends are sharing family photos, cat humor, vacation photos, and the musings of George Takei. There's a chance they'll enjoy looking at your ...

The news release found at  http://www.myprgenie.com/view-publication/pillsincartcom-stands-out-as-a-trusted-generic-online-drugstore  should give chills to anyone who purports to write for a living. It's poorly written ("online pharmacies on the internet" -- where else would an online pharmacy be found?). Verbs and nouns don't agree. Its dateline sounds like an apartment complex address, rather than a city. And when the release diverts from talking about drug safety of sorts to the commissions available for resellers, it just becomes an utter mess. Who's at fault? The author of the release is an easy target. But MyPRGenie.com should shoulder much of the blame. They promise to get your news release to thousands of editors -- most of whom will laugh at the poor writing. MyPRGenie.com should provide some editorial counsel. Writing an effective news release takes skill, and Pillsincart.com's writer clearly needs help.   English can be tricky. That's why hiring...

There are no magic lanterns. No PR genies. No write-it-for-you software or apps. Nothing is going to create a readable news release or public relations pitch for you -- except someone whose skill set includes newswriting, storytelling, editing, and interviewing. I often teach university-level public relations courses. And, when I'm looking for examples of unedited, clumsily crafted news releases published online, my first stop, inevitably, is MyPRGenie.com.  Smokey the Genie (right) with Bugs Bunny MyPRGenie bills itself as a one-stop resource for PR support, including blogs, search engine optimization, and hosting online newsrooms. All are useful in today's PR universe. They may be better at some services than others. But I tremble whenever I find news releases -- often written by someone with, ah, less-developed writing skills -- that find their way online with virtually no editing or attention to what an editor will read. One recent verbatim example: ...