This is the first guest post on Solo PR Pro, and it comes from popular PR blogger Scott Hepburn. Scott is a copywriter for PRstore, a full-service marketing and PR company with franchises nationwide. He blogs at Media Emerging and plays devil’s advocate on Twitter as @ScottHepburn.
A blogger recently shared with me an anecdote about the importance of moving quickly in PR.
The blogger was asked to speak about social media to a local business association. The group’s president had prepared an extensive list of questions, but time allowed only a few of the questions to be answered.
After the event, the blogger asked the president to email him the questions that night and offered to write a blog post to answer the questions. The post would have been of tremendous educational value to group members.
The president didn’t send the list that night. Or the next morning. Or the next day at all. A weekend passed. By Monday, the blogger had moved on.
That’s the way it is in the publicity biz. If you’re late, you’re irrelevant.
We have entered the era of Fast PR. Bloggers – and now even mainstream reporters adapting to the social web – write about what’s hot, relevant, or timely. Relevance and timeliness are no longer measured in days. Immediacy is the new standard.
Here are some questions to determine your readiness for Fast PR:
> Do you have the email addresses of bloggers in your industry?
> What about Twitter handles? Cell phone number (for texting)?
> Are you commenting on their blogs to stay top of mind?
> Have you connected with them on Twitter?
> Actually, now that I think of it, do you even know who the bloggers in your industry are?
> When you have a relationship with a blogger, do you friend them on Facebook?
> Do you have a Web page where bloggers can grab video/pics to embed on their blog?
> Are you still emailing attachments? (If the answer is yes, we need to talk)
> Are you fully PR-ready?
> Do your clients have blogs to serve as “Content Central?”
> Does your business card include your social media information in addition to the usual contact info?
If you aren’t prepared to move fast, you will lose the PR game. What are you doing to prep for the faster PR environment of the social web?
Scott, thank you so much for sharing your expertise on this subject. You are right about things moving at the speed of immediacy and that requires those in and out of PR to be equipped at all times to identify and respond to opportunity. Now if you’ll excuse me I must clean my own house to be in compliance with your great suggestions!
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