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PR Tips Tag

PR Tips | The wrong way to shorten a quotation

August 18, 2014
Especially when it comes to writing op-eds, incorporating quotations from experts can be a great way to bolster your arguments. Unfortunately, an 800-word op-ed doesn't leave much room for lengthy block quotations. So writers often shorten quotes by using ellipses. However, if you find yourself doing this, be extremely careful. When you chop up a quote, it's easy to alter the meaning completely. This can be an honest mistake or, worse, a purposeful manipulation. To see how someone’s words can be misrepresented by an artfully placed ellipsis, look no further than a recent Amazon letter released online at ReadersUnited.com. The letter makes the argument that today's book publishers are attacking Amazon's eBooks in the same way that the literary community opposed the introduction of paperbacks, which were much cheaper than the alternative hardcovers at the time.

PR Tips | Pitching Magic

August 5, 2014

When you're submitting op-eds and news stories to the media, why do some pieces run in top publications, while others slip through the cracks? Well, it’s all in the pitch. So what are the keys to a “winning” pitch. And how do you make your story stand out...

PR Tips | LeBron’s PR Tactics

July 29, 2014

NBA star LeBron James made big, big news this month when he announced he’d be going back to the city he’s always loved and play for the Cleveland Cavaliers once again. I have very close ties to the city myself, so when LeBron burned Cleveland --...

PR Tips | If the biggest papers say no, don’t quit your pitchin’!

July 1, 2014
Every writer would like to see his or her op-ed published in The Washington Post or The New York Times. But you never know if you're pitching your piece on the same day that Bill Clinton is submitting one as well. It's tough to beat out a former president -- much less the scores of other writers vying for scarce editorial-page real estate. So where do you go if the Post and the Times say no? You could simply pitch by circulation -- the bigger the better. But to maximize the impact of your op-ed, a more strategic approach may be in order.

PR Tips | How to get your op-ed in the New York Times

June 17, 2014
"How can I get my op-ed in the New York Times?" That's one of the most frequent questions I'm asked. And for good reason. The publication boasts a circulation of 1.25 million, making it one of the top papers in the United States. While it's nearly impossible to guarantee placement in any publication, there are some important guidelines aspiring op-ed writers should follow if they want to increase their chances of getting published in a top outlet. In fact, I recently came across a piece in the New York Times in which Trish Hall, editor of the paper's Op-Ed and Sunday Review sections, offers a few important tips to writers. Below is what I've found to be some of her most helpful points. So if you've ever wondered how to increase your chances of catching an editor's eye, keep reading …

#BringBackOurGirls

May 27, 2014

As nearly everyone knows, 276 Nigerian schoolgirls were kidnapped last month by Boko Haram. Following these horrific kidnappings, two Nigerians tweeted with the hashtag #BringBackOurDaughters. It wasn’t long before the hashtag changed to its current form: #BringBackOurGirls. Twitter users from around the world united and the...

PR Tips | Choosing a Hosting Provider for WordPress Websites

May 7, 2014
If you're planning on creating a new WordPress website -- or are unhappy with your existing hosting provider -- you'll need to choose where to host your site.  It's daunting to sift through the hundreds of different hosting options to figure out which best suits your needs. Here's a quick primer to make this choice a bit easier for you. For the majority of small- and medium-sized businesses, third-party “shared hosting” is a reliable cost-efficient hosting solution ($5 - $15/month). With shared hosting, your site is sharing a server with several other websites. This is what allows hosting companies to keep costs low. The tradeoff is that if another site on the same shared server sees a sudden increase in traffic, then the server could get bottle-necked and temporarily slow your site down. Shared hosting plans typically do not include site backups and back-end WordPress upgrades, so we recommend having your own backup and upgrade strategy in place if you plan to use shared hosting. Examples of shared hosting companies include ICDSoft, HostGator and BlueHost.