It’s not exactly accurate to say I was reminded of this today — because I never forget it. So let’s just say its truth was evident to me in evocative ways today: Good, effective PR is rooted in taking the time to build good professional relationships, the most rewarding of which become personal relationships, too.
I had a grand time being interviewed by the other side of one such relationship — my friend Tom Brown of KPXQ Radio in Phoenix. He loaned me his megaphone to talk about my new book, BITE THE DOG: Build a PR Strategy to Make News That Matters, but our 16-minute conversation unfolded more like two buddies catching up than a host-and-guest exchange. If you listen, you’ll hear us discuss this very topic: how truly getting to know, and even care about, a “source” — no matter which side of the microphone you sit on — makes for better coverage for the PR person’s clients and better content for the journalist’s show or story. The picture accompanying this post is of me and another source who has become much more than that — CBN’s Efrem Graham.
As I type these words, I think immediately of my wife, Kelly, a PR pro herself who is the best example I know of building and maintaining relationships with the media who cover her clients — and I don’t just say that because she said “I do.” With nearly 25 years experience at the preeminent public relations firm serving the marine, RV and outdoor industries, a company whose shingle bears her name, she knows both the content needs, and personal stories, of pretty much everyone in her database. And that’s a big part of the reason for that preeminence I mentioned last sentence.
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