Lessons Learned from Media Ambush
An old PR story goes, "You know you're going to have a bad day when you arrive to find 60 Minutes at your door." A more modern take has Michael Moore knocking, and Mary Doyle shares her own tale.

How Effective Are Your Media Releases?
Not very? Marsha Friedman says it takes more than hoping for magic, and she shares several tips on how to use the best PR tools to get better press.

Six Best Public Relations Writing Tips
Here are six sure-fire ways to liven up your PR copy and keep your reader engaged. Even better, not a single writing suggestion mentions the words grammar, spelling or punctuation! 

Why Getting on a Show is So Important
Television viewers are quicker than ever to click-and-flash through commercials. Marsha Friedman says it's key to get yourself seen as content rather than an interruption.

How to Harness The Power of YouTube
New media opportunities such as YouTube provide reach to millions of potential viewers with your business, product or service. Scott Lorenz shares  tips and examples on how to make it work.

Communication Appeals & Tactics
You have to win a potential target's attention amid a barrage of thousands of messages daily, then quickly shepherd your audience to hear and accept your point. Steve Van Hook helps pave the path with this video.

The Truth About Public Speaking
As you stand at the dais and scan the crowd, someone may be picking at your presentation, possibly Ed Barks. He has some tips to polish your style.

When Good Clients Turn Bad
Sometimes a potential problem-client may be obvious right from the start; other times a relationship may go sour. Either way, Pierce Mattie has some tips.

How to Communicate More Effectively
A secret of better communications is to apply the three fundamental rules test. Dr. Thomas Klipstine of the University of South Carolina details how.

Six No-Hype Copywriting Techniques
Is it possible to be lively and appealing, yet truthful in your potent sales writing? Marcia Yudkin says yes, with these detailed steps in just how to do it.

Three Techniques for Generating Publicity
You can better grow a new business on a limited budget by reaching out with these publicity tips from Mary Gormandy White.

Launching a Multicultural PR Campaign
CR 'Cataunya' Ransom has five solid tips on how to give your brand an advantage in the richly diverse multicultural marketplace.

Free Publicity is Worth Its Weight in Gold
Just starting out on a shoestring? Geoff Simon offers a roster of tips to attract free attention for your fledgling efforts.

Partnerships with Non-Profits
Working with charitable events and causes can be an effective way to jump-start your publicity campaign, with some tips provided by Diana Laverdure. 

How To Improve Your Team's Writing Skills
Your team can't write? Join the club. But here's some help as Ann Wylie provides five top tips to keep good writers and make poor writers better.

Simple Techniques for Media Interviews
To ensure successful relations with reporters and crowds, John Millen recommends tactical tools of crossing the bridge or waving your flag.

Dramatically Improve Your PR Writing Skills
If you're looking for a formula to polish your way with words, Daphne Gray-Grant suggests a visit backward to a 5th grade mathematics lesson.

Picking the Right Picture for the Media
A media release accompanied by a perfect selection of photos may boost your chances of publication. Photographer Simon Apps has some helpful tips.

Sleepwalking Through the Workday
Effective internal communications may be just the jolt to motivate sluggish employees. Tonya Bacon shares some wake-up tips.

Writing Effective Content for PR & Marketing Materials
Crafting copy for your catalogs or website needn't be a chore. Marcia Yudkin says with the right tools and tactics, it can be fun!

Achieving Fan/Celebrity Communications
Celebrities and their fans share an intertwined bond that can be sweetened with some useful tools and tactics, as detailed by fan site moderator Kieran Bailey.

Successful Grassroots Marketing
Outreach campaigns on a shoestring can be powerfully effective if you start from the soil up. Kyle Potvin says it's as simple as mastering three fundamental F's.

Raising Your Profile
Is your message consistently set aside in the media shuffle? Kelly Davis suggests some strategic forethought may help you stand out in the crowd.

Crisis Plans for Small Business
As the mirror sticker says, crisis situations may be closer than they appear. That's the warning of Ellie Whims, with a guideline for a well-prepared plan.

Media Tours: A Playbook
Need a plan to put your company news personally to the media? Then hit the road with an effective outreach campaign, advises Kristin Duskin-Gadd.

11 Tips for Using Photos & Graphics for Public Relations
The right snapshot can help snap up a busy editor's pick of your media release. Joan Stewart offers a how-to guide for eye-popping pictures. 

How to Make Your Website Name Sizzle
Are all the really good domain names taken? Marcia Yudkin says with a little creativity, you can still stake a distinctive mark.

The Art of Mea Culpa
Strategic communicator and attorney Richard Levick considers how your clients can -- and sometimes must -- apologize for their mistakes.

How to Write Microcontent for the Web
It's the little things that make for effective online communications. Ann Wylie provides a primer on the micro-messaging tactics that help get the word out. 

Creating An Online Newsroom
To effectively lure reporters to your newsroom pages, you need to carefully craft a site the media will love, says Bill Stoller with some how-to tips.

Microwaveable Marketing
In a fast-tech marketplace that expects instant results, Mike Ference suggests tapping your traditional chamber of commerce and business networking groups.

Put Your Networking to Work
It's an overused word but an underused tool, notes avid networker and author Pari Noskin Taichert. Sharpen up your own networking skills with Pari's six pointers.

What is News?
Just how can you win the attention of busy editors and reporters as they flick through reams of media releases? Peter Turkington says friction makes a spark.

The Road to Inspiration
Having a hard time striking that creative spark? By way of road trips or power napping, Kyle Potvin says we might meet our muse in the oddest places. 

How to Write a World-Class Media Release
Don't get lost in the pile. Ann Wylie offers a handful of tips to help make your next media relations piece get an editor's grab. 

Boost the Credibility of Your Web Site
Your online presence may frequently be your first and only chance to make a good impression. Marcia Yudkin shares five tips to help make it count.

Media Releases for all Occasions
The needs of editors and reporters come in all sizes and shapes. PR insider Bill Stoller advises to fashion your release for just the right fit.

Press Releases are a Colossal Waste of Time
Why be one more page on the pile? Publicity expert B.L. Ochman says a well-written pitch letter may be the key to get beyond the media gatekeepers.

Practical Pointers for Powerful Press Releases
Want to unleash the full potential of your presser? Pari Noskin Taichert advises us to have a little fun and let the dinosaurs out to play.

How To Write a Winning Op-Ed
A well executed and strategically place op-ed may well be among the most underutilized tools in the PR arsenal. John McLain has some surefire tips on op-ed craftsmanship.

Batter Up! How to Pitch Your Media Release
Whether to use fastballs, curveballs or wild pitches to score with news media. Media expert and baseball fan Jon Greer throws out some suggestions on how to hit a media placement homerun.

Publicity Stunts Still Earn Attention
It may rain on your parade, and fists might fly over mismatches, but penguins pummeling Bill Gates is a great media draw. Marcia Yudkin shares a take on staging successful stunts.

Create a Killer Online Newsroom
Studies show most online newsrooms fail to meet journalists' needs. Kay Bransford shares the top three ways to be among the best online resources when reporters come to call.

Smashing the Myth of the Press Release
He's not knocking the value of a well-written presser, but PR insider Bill Stoller says a media release is one of the *last* things you should be thinking about.

Crisis Management Moments
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and always seek an opportunity in the middle of your PR crisis situations. Look at these classic examples.

Fast PR Moves on Slow News Days
Sitting in the doldrums with nothing new to promote? Take a fresh look at your old tactics with a wealth of suggestions from Roni Singleton.

PR: Who Needs It? You Do!
It's not only the big players. Public relations tactics are for the rest of us too: on the job hunt, publicizing fundraisers, tilting at social windmills, or just grabbing a headline.

Your Future in Public Relations
Who has a future in PR, what gets you started, where to find career support when the going gets rough, and why you should even bother. Lots of details and links in this four-part article.

Storytelling and PR
Once upon a time, a CBS newsman had a clever idea. The best way to get a company's story out, is to tell it like a story. Everybody comfy? Well, listen to how Robbie Vorhaus does it.

Ten Steps to Better Media Relations
Connecting with the media may always be a challenge, but it doesn't have to be complicated. Kyle Potvin offers a simple plan for better media placement results.

Keep Your PR Copy Trim and Sleek
Your prose will sizzle if you chop some of the fat and make your message lean and clean. Wordsmith Kelle Campbell shows how to wield a cleaver against excess words.

Making the Most of Media Interviews
Media interviews can be a PR boost or bust. A few moments of preparation can help avoid months of fallout and clean-up. Media training expert Jim Cameron gives a straight take.

How to Stage Great Media Events
From concept to finish, successful media events require careful planning and caring execution. PR event specialist Andrew Garlikov says make it easy for the media, and they're more likely to come.

Squeezing Fresh Tech Media Plans
Marketing and media relations for high-tech companies require some specialized tools. Mark Coker provides a comprehensive checklist for tech PR pros, with some useful tips for the rest of us too.

Media Relations
Find more ways to maximize your media placements with insider tips and resources.

Marketing and Public Relations
Public relations' place in effective marketing campaigns.

PR Desk References
Dictionaries, encyclopedia, maps, style guides, country reports, currency converters, language translators ... handy references for the PR desktop.

Very Best PR Connections
Your one-stop connection to the Best-of-the-Net PR links. Lots of the Net's best resources for jobs, references, associations, fresh & regularly updated.

Media Directories
Media directories for print and broadcast outlets. Search for local, national, and international media markets.

Objectives: The 'Weakest Link' in PR
Fuzzy objectives can be the weakest link in a public relations campaign. Mitchell Friedman says g'bye to shoddy goals and welcome to sharper strategies through a bullet list of definitive planning tools.

Skate Your Way Around Media Crises
Some compare working in the middle of a media frenzy to a three-ring circus, others to outright warfare. Richard Perry says no, it's a hockey game.

Hiking the Hits on Your PR Site
Attract a throng of eager visitors to your online PR pages by offering a menu of delights. And learn from the lead of content trailblazers.

Public Relations for the New Entrepreneur
In this fundamental primer for entrepreneurs just finding their feet with public relations, author Jill Lublin prescribes seven basic steps for becoming known.

Successful Company Communications
Forget all the airy definitions and rationales. The bottom-line for effective public relations is advancing the company bottom-line. Andy Marken says it's all about delivering value.

AScribe Best of the Net
A public interest newswire created at the University of California, Berkeley transmitting realtime news releases at reduced rates on behalf of higher education and nonprofit organizations, to the publishing systems of leading daily papers and web sites.

BuzzWhack
"buzz.whack.er (buz´wak er) n. A person who receives some degree of pleasure in bursting the bubbles of the pompous." This site is dedicated to de-mystifying buzzwords.

Contentious Best of the Net
A fine e-zine for 'people who create or publish content for online media,' edited by online content consultant Amy Gahran. Free subscription to monthly newsletter.

Eleven Questions About Press Release Writing
How do you make journalists pay attention to your press release? Kelle Campbell has 11 answers.

How (and Why) to Publish a Newsletter
Newsletters can keep you connected to your clients and customers, and attract new business as well. It also gets your work in front of the bosses' eyes -- not a bad deal all-in-all.

How to Write a Public Relations Plan
Craig Myamoto, APR and Fellow PRSA, says "the public relations plan is one of the most important documents you will produce in your career." He gives some handy guidelines on how to make your PR plan shine.

InfoCom Group - Bulldog Reporter Best of the Net
Your "media, marketing and management HQ," assisting PR, advertising and legal professionals. Links to article topics such as How to Build Long-Term Media Relationships, Build your Competitive Edge, and various media editor suggestions for pitching stories. Also free e-zine subscriptions on specialized PR & media topics topics like PR metrics, training, PR on the Internet, crisis and more.

Language Translation Tools
Translate to and from languages including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, English -- courtesy of Google.

Media Release Format
Here's a couple examples of what a media release might look like.

The Nonprofit Good Practice Guide
Offers good practices to assist nonprofits and foundations in improving their efficiency and effectiveness. The free online Guide provides tips and resources organized within topic areas including Advocacy, Communications and Marketing, Foundations and Grantmaking, and Volunteer Management. 

PR Research Resources
Public Relations and general reference resource links.

PRWeb.com
Designed "by PR professionals for PR professionals," a member-supported service that distributes media releases for some 4,000 companies.

(PR)ofiting from Publicity: Online Public Relations
"One of the cheapest ways to market your business is to take advantage of the many opportunities that exist for free or low cost public relations," especially when you tap ever-expanding viritual PR resources. Useful tips from Philippa Gamse in this article. Check her archives for more.

Public Speaking & Speech Writing
"Your free guide to speech writing" for just about any public speaking situation. Nicely linked primer takes you through speech planning, writing, and delivery. And it is free.

Publicity Insider
Bill Stoller offers several useful (and free) articles on public relations fundamentals such as "ultimate PR and publicity secrets," and publishes a "Free Publicity" newsletter for PR-hungry businesses.

Strategic Communications
A useful by-the-number outline of effective strategic communications planning, by Peter O'Malley.

Trade Show News Network
An extensive online database for the trade show industry. Lots of tools and links for trade show planning, logistics, exhibits, travel, international detail, media, and jobs.

The Web Marketing Checklist
How do you market your site on the Web? Dr. Ralph F. Wilson counts the ways -- all 32 of them, for starters.

Web Style Guide
An online editorial style manual for online writers, from Yale.

What to Include in Your Brochure
The whats, hows and whys of preparing a professional brochure. One good suggestion: look at what your competition did wrong.

What's Next Online
A useful archive of B.L. Ochman articles covering topics such as Press Releases are a Waste of Time, The Single Best Way to Promote your Site, How Not to Talk to Reporters, Annoying PR People (I think she means annoying as an adjective, not a verb)

Who Owns What? Best of the Net
A comprehensive compilation of who owns what media. An outstanding resource directory maintained by Aaron Moore.