Publications: Public Relations


PR for Dummies

Title: PR voor DUMMIES
Author(s): Eric Yaverbaum, Bob Bly with a Dutch-Flemish adaptation by S.M. Schroevers
Category: Communication, Public Relations
Language: Dutch
Publisher: Pearson Education Benelux
Year of issue: 2005
ISBN: 90-430-1090-1
Pages: 260
Edition: Paperback
Illustrations: Black-and-white

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Breakdown of the book

The For Dummies series was conceived as books for smart people who are absolute beginners, and that's the approach I use in Public Relations Kit For Dummies. Part I covers the basics. Part II discusses the process we use to create successful PR campaigns. Part III covers the PR materials you need and how to create them. In Part IV, you learn how to work with the media to get your material published. Part V gives you power techniques for getting the media to notice and cover you. And Part VI is a collection of useful tips. The breakdown of each part follows.

Part I: PR: What It Is, How It Works
Everybody has heard of PR but surprisingly few people have a clear picture of what it really is and what it involves. Part I supplies the big picture overview of the public relations field. Chapter 1 defines what public relations is and how it fits into an overall marketing campaign. Chapter 2 examines PR uses and applications, answering the questions "Who needs PR?" and "How can it benefit me and my company?" The chapter also debunks common PR myths and misperceptions. Chapter 3 covers the process of planning a campaign from initial concept through implementation and evaluation. Chapter 4 deals with the "make or buy" issue: Should you always do your own PR or does it ever make sense to hire outside help? It also covers the alternatives available (PR firms, ad agencies, graphic design services, and freelancers), including where to find them and how to evaluate and hire them.

Part II: Brainstorming and Thinking Creatively
PR is largely a business of creative ideas, and this section shows you how to think more creatively about PR and get breakthrough ideas that make your product or service stand out and get media attention. In Chapter 5, I show you how to set up your own in-house PR capabilities, so you can do just what the big PR agencies do, only without the big PR agency bills. Chapter 6 gives you a technique for producing PR ideas. Chapter 7 is my arsenal of PR "weapons" - tactics we have used with extraordinary success to publicize my firm's clients.

Part III: Laying the Groundwork
Sitting around cooking up ideas for PR campaigns is fun, but there's a lot of hard work involved to turn the plans into a working campaign that gets your name in the papers and your company on the evening news in a favorable light. Chapter 8 covers the details of setting up that workhorse of PR programs, the company newsletter. In Chapter 9, you see how to churn out press releases and media kits. Chapter 10 explores writing and placing feature articles. And Chapter 11 shows you how to deliver your message in person with confidence and persuasiveness at interviews, press conferences, media tours, and other presentations.

Part IV: Implementing Your PR Strategy
The ideas you come up with and the PR materials you produce won't generate one thin dime of extra revenues or profits if you don't get the media to run them. Part IV shows you how to pitch your ideas to the media so that you get the coverage you want. Chapter 12 is a crash course on how to deal with media types effectively. Chapters 13 through 16 focus on specific media: radio, TV, print, and the Internet.

Part V: Creating Buzz
If things about your business aren't exciting enough to get the media's attention, you have to stir things up a bit - to create "buzz" as PR professionals are fond of saying. Chapter 17 shows how to create events that generate tons of free publicity for you and your organization. Chapter 18 shows you how to exploit events and activities originated by others. Chapter 19 covers how to handle events when things don't go your way and a crisis pops up, whether it's a toxic spill at your plant or a defect in your product. Chapter 20 suggests ways to monitor and measure PR results, so you can determine the return on your PR investment.

Part VI: The Part of Tens
Here you can find a large amount of very useful little items, arranged in groups of ten: the ten greatest PR coups of all time (Chapter 21); the top ten situations in which PR can help you achieve better business results (Chapter 22); ten tips for coming off to media and colleagues as a true PR pro (Chapter 23); the ten things you should never do in the quest for more publicity because they are illegal, unethical, immoral, or in the long run unproductive (Chapter 24); and ten steps to writing better PR materials (Chapter 25).

 


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