Episode #13: Christina Rowsell | How to Deal with the Public and the Media?

New to Public and Media Relations? Christina Rowsell Shares Basic Things You Need To Know How do you know how to deal with the public and the media? And why are they important for your business anyway? In this episode of Enlightened Entrepreneur Podcast, Christina Rowsell, a long-time media relations expert, shares a few critical tips and ticks on how to successfully launch yourself in the local, national and international media scene.

Key Questions Asked:

What criteria should business owners use in finding the right person or company to work with when it comes to PR? What area do business owners commonly make mistakes in? What is it that reporters and media are looking for from business owners? Assuming that they have done all these tings, where can business owners find major opportunities when it comes to media? If you she were to do it all over again, knowing what she knows now, what would Christina do differently?

Highlights of Lessons Learned:

Media & Public Relations

A press release has to be three things: be newsworthy, evoke emotion and has to be of value to the readers, viewers and listeners. There’s a big difference between advertising and using earned media. It is important for business owners like you to know what your story is and why do you want to tell your story. When you do your PR, you have to look at your ‘RACE’ formula: Research, Action, Communication, and Evaluation. When you hire a PR Company, make sure that that they have a good rapport with the local media. Christina encourages new and small business owners to start locally, because when you can increase your profile within your own community, it’s going to look better once you start to go nationally. The media is looking for something that’s going to work with the program that they’re producing.

Mistakes & Other Tips

A lot of business owners will not write a proper press release. Following up is another thing that people don’t do but they should do. A lot of people are also afraid that press releases are archaic, however, you got to find a way to tell the media that you exist one way or another. Another mistake business owners make is they write the press release like an advertisement, which makes it less interesting. Another tip: do not make your press release more than two pages, you really have to pull out what is the meat and the heart of your story, and what you think will make an impact to the audience. If you’ve never done an interview, make sure you find somebody who can do media training and will help you how to cope with nerves, how to talk to the camera in different settings, etc.