PR Firm CEO Ronn Torossian offers Tips

March 8, 2013

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Some tips from Ronn Torossian of 5WPR, leading PR firm as seen in his PR book which may be purchased at: https://www.amazon.com/Immediate-Release-Deliver-Game-Changing-Relations/dp/1936661160

Attention is the most valuable form of currency in PR and marketing. Getting the right attention must be done strategically and consistently.
Digital media and self-created content give everyone a voice. For good and for bad, self-created content is tremendously important—and realize with today’s media world everyone’s opinion counts. Blog, comment, and join the conversation when it suits your purposes and goals.
PR works best with evolution rather than revolution. A rabbi with whom I study the Torah (the Jewish Bible) says religion is a series of steps. It provides a good analogy to change in business and PR strategy. If you gradually take two steps forward, you might fall back a step. That’s okay. It’s easier to recover from one step backward than it is if you hurry and take four steps at once and then another four. You might trip and fall three or six steps behind— it’s much harder to get back up to speed from that point.
PR has been and will always be about building relationships. In an earlier era, you needed only to worry about a few beat reporters, gossip columnists, or talk show hosts. Today it’s also about knowing bloggers, Twitter communities, inﬂuential Diggers, Facebook groups, or other collectives.
Everyone loves a great storyteller—become one. Your story is your ticket to people’s hearts and minds. A great story can motivate a person to go from passive to participant. Participate in media training and then rehearse and prepare. It matters.
Write well. Understand the value of communicating properly, particularly in press releases, because they will often be used verbatim as news stories—it’s called “churnalism.” Yes, there’s a name for it now.
Gossip is information delivered personally. Make it work for you and not against you. Think strategically: how can you use what you hear to do better, be better, and serve better?
Success and media attention come with a price; learn to accept it and adapt accordingly.
Don’t try to be something you’re not: authenticity may mean saying no to opportunities that may not ﬁt your brand or work against your core mission and values. Politicians need 51 percent of a market to succeed; brands can win with a much smaller market share and become very successful.
Be a giver, not a taker. Share information strategically and oﬀer journalists tips but don’t demand favors.