Part 3, Building A PR Plan From Start to Finish: Implementation

This is it! You've come a long way! Let's really get down to business now.

Consider the analogy of building a home. You've created a foundation with your differentiating statement. You've assessed and identified ways to created relationships with those who will be actually doing the construction work (think of it this way - you may do all of the background, but in reality, it's your media partners who actually do the work of building your public relations home for you -so you'd better have good, solid relationships with those doing your building!)

Now, it's time to put the frame together...and the key to doing that is a blueprint.

The foundation of that blueprint is the plan for your rooms. (Uh oh, we're starting to stretch this analogy too thin, so it's officially exiting stage left...)

Let's assume that you're planning a new product or service launch for your company.

The key is for you to identify at least 30 different public relations "hooks" on which you can build stories. Some will be better than others.

If you need a little help with this, we have a report with information to help you generate ideas. this report is at:
Media Kits on a Shoestring: How to Create Them Without Spending a Bundle

Now, you need to narrow this list down into to five to ten of the best ideas. The temptation is to select the one that's most glaringly obvious, but avoid that, because you'll need several good ones for the next step.

When you have come up with those topics, write them down! Again, keep those topics close at hand, meaning, typing them on the computer and saving them will make more difficult to haul around with you. If you type them, print them out. Have them handy. You will want to stay with your topic, and you will be able to better do that if you have them right in front of you while working on your PR plan.

Next you need to plan your story plan.

In other words, which story hook you are going to use with whom.

You need to have:
1. A story hook that you send out as a general press release to those who are on your listed of targeted media, but who aren't key media contacts.

2. Separate story hooks for each key media contacts you are targeting.

Let's imagine that your key contacts include your local newspaper, your business journal, the Wall Street Journal and two trade magazines in the two marketplaces where this product sells.

Your local reporter wants a story about how this will affect the local economy, how many jobs you'll be adding, or a human interest story about how you developed the product idea.

The business journal wants to see an economic story, a how this business is succeeding story, or a profile showing how the manager is growing the company story.

The Wall Street Journal wants to know how this will affect your stock price, or how it will affect the stock prices of others. They want a results and forecasts-focused story.

The two trade journals want stories about how it will affect the companies in their industry.

Can you see why sending a templated press release out to each of these 5 outlets is a bad idea?

None of them get what they want, so all of them are likely to reject your story!

That's where you need 5 different hooks, one for each.

Nobody ever said this was easy, but it is worth it! PR takes some tedious effort.

And of course, you need to have the basics on hand before you start with anyone. You'll need to have a Media Kit. Need help with that? Click the link to our report that will give you the basics.

If you want help in greater detail, we have an audio CD that talks much more about constructing the media kit of your dreams, and also an Electronic Media Kit

Now that you have the information, write your general Press Release. You can find good information and templates on our site.

And, you'll need to know how to actually Pitch the Story to your other key contacts (this may happen with a press release, but it's a better idea to do it via the phone or email.)

So, three issues to explain the beginnings of a Public Relations plan. Of course, there's lots of other elements that would be part of a normal plan, like event planning, press involvement, interview setup, doing the circuit, talk show appearances, joint announcements, investor relations, etc. We're working on a special report to outline the entire process.

I hope that you found some value in this material and that it has given you a marching plan to get started. Like I have said before, PR is work. It almost never comes easily. We have only really scratched the surface of this topic. Our book, Media Relations Power, would probably be of far more help to you.

This book includes 21 of our reports concerning public relations and media plans. Don't pass it up. It really is the cream of the information.

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Tags: Media Relations