By popular demand… The top 4 ways to make HARO requests more relevant to you: 4) Ask yourself how well you really know your clients: Every time I sign a new client, I sit with them over pizza (or whatever they want to eat, I usually make it pizza…) and ask them seemingly off-the-wall, off-topic questions. What do you do for fun? You fish? Got any kids? How old? Public school? Private? Are you married? For how long? Parents still alive? Belong to any civic organizations? Perform? Play an instrument? Any clubs? See where I’m going with this? The more information I find out about each of my clients, the more potential I have to pitch them to reporters who [...]

This was sent in as a joke, but sadly, it’s dead on. Publicists: THIS IS WHAT NOT TO DO. Understand? Read this. Commit it to memory. THEN DON’T DO ANYTHING REMOTELY LIKE IT ON MY LIST. Thanks to AL for the great farce. 1. QUERY I am looking for Long Islanders 50 and older who are in debt or have been in debt, to interview for a Newsday article. My client is a 30-year-old bank executive who can talk about how Americans no longer face debt, given today’s booming economy. Please call me. 2. QUERY As the number of people “pimping their rides,” has increased, so have questions about what is covered in car insurance. I have spoken to many [...]

So… Y’all remember how I started that little Facebook group I started that allowed me to connect reporters and sources, right? Well, 1,200 members later, and we’ve blown past email limits for Facebook groups. So with that said… Welcome to Help A Reporter: The Sequel. Help A Reporter, at www.helpareporter.com is live, and already making waves. Check out the NY Times from this morning, Marketing Sherpa from this morning, and the tons of blogs and Tweets about it. When we do it right, I REALLY love this industry. Two quick photos: First one from my arrival at the Island Hotel in Newport Beach a few days ago. I love it when hotels take the time to figure out what your [...]

So today is Friday. I was all psyched today. I’d go out and find another Happy Friday Video to post, it was going to be a chill, relaxing day. Then yesterday, a good friend of mine, a senior reporter for one of the largest daily papers in the country, asks me to post a query to my Help Out A Reporter list. She was looking for people who have decided to scale back, or cut out all together, any upcoming summer leisure travel because of higher gas prices. Simple enough query. I posted it last night, putting myself as the contact. I would forward all relevant responses. By noon today, I’d received 18 responses. I’m so very sad to say [...]

This story on Disaboom, out this morning in Advertising Age, simply rocks. Nice way to start the week. Well, that and a grilled cheese, bacon, and tomato sandwich on wheat toast from Tasos Restaurant. Or two.