Measurable Metrics for Your PR Team

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The typical PR person likes to write press releases, post them out to newswires, and say a little prayer to get your company’s stories in the media.

And why wouldn’t they, if allowed? That’s the path of least resistance. You don’t have to talk to anyone and you can hide behind your desk.

The problem with this approach is that it doesn’t really work.

According to a recent survey, only 37% of journalists use wires daily, 30% of journalists use wires occasionally, and 21% of journalists never use wires.

That means that over 50% of journalists rarely or never use newswires. They never see your press release. Your story doesn’t get published.

And to make matters worse, of the reporters who do use wires, only about 3/4 use them for stories. The rest use the for monitoring industry trends and checking facts. Factor in the number of journalists seeing your wire that cover your industry and these numbers get really dismal.

The 4-1-1

Rather than rely on passive tools like newswires and press releases, the best PR teams are proactive and treat the PR process like a sales process. That means targeting the right people in the media, crafting your pitch, and making cold calls to sell your story.

The question is, what’s a reasonable expectation for landing stories with a proactive PR team that using sales tactics well?

The PR output

Assuming you are targeting writers who write your types of stories, in media outlets that have readers who would be interested in them, what follows is a rough estimate of the numbers you might expect from a PR person once that individual has been trained on your product, your company, and your industry.

Monthly: You should expect five stories per PR person at a minimum.

Daily: Each PR sales team member makes six outbound pitches to journalists. Each pitch, most of which should be phone calls, includes these components:

• Taking notes from research on the target

• Recording what was said on the call

• Setting up follow-up times to call the writer back if necessary

• Verifying the writer’s contact info

• Sending out follow-up information

• Following up with prospects from calls made in weeks prior

Tally: (6 calls a day x 5 days a week) x 4 weeks a month = 120 outbound calls a month, which should generate five stories a month.

These numbers are pretty accurate and cover national, regional, and local media. They also cover spreading the calls out over TV, radio, print, online, newsletters, and bloggers.

The numbers are pretty conservative too. If the angles are well thought out, and if the PR person sells well, he or she will land even more. We’re talking about roughly a 4% success rate. If they complain, tell them the national average for cold call success rates is 6.16%—and that’s for people selling product that costs something. Your stories are free!

Don’t waste time with fancy ROI metrics

The only thing your PR salespeople really need to track is how many total stories they are landing each month.

Don’t waste time tracking media impressions to come up with some fancy ROI. You’ll know after six months that it works, and for the salaries and bonuses you’re spending, you’ll get great ROI. Spending time over-tracking things just wastes time that you could spend pitching the media!

Some helpful metrics

That being said, there are some helpful things for your PR people to track to monitor their progress at landing stories.

How many writers have they called back after the initial pitch? They should keep a simple database in Microsoft Outlook, Sage ACT!, or a similar contact management system to track what they talked about and when they need to call the person back. Keep it simple.

Which writers will they contact again if those writers fail to express interest in the pitch the first time? If a writer shuts your PR person down, they should always call on him or her again in the future with other ideas.

Personally, I call back such writers at a later date with perhaps a new twist on an old angle or when the business tide has changed to make that angle interesting again. I’ve had the same writer cover me for different stories in different publications. Many writers freelance for a variety of publications, and they can cover your story in a few of them. Always continue to follow up until you’re told to never call again!

Dream big

Finally, don’t let your PR folks limit themselves to small and local media outlets. Dream big to see big results!

Start pitching the writers from the Associated Press, Bloomberg, and Dow Jones News Service. Even some of the regional papers work in syndicates, in which case your story could run in multiple papers. Pitching one person from the Associated Press could get you into more than one hundred papers that same week (versus trying to pitch a hundred writers). Leveraging can yield huge results.

 

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Meetings Suck: Turning One Of The Most Loathed Elements Of Business Into One Of The Most Valuable

We all know that meetings suck, right?

You hear it all the time. It’s the one thing that almost everyone in business can agree on.

Except it’s not actually true… 

Meetings don’t suck.

We just suck at running meetings.   

When done right, meetings not only work, they make people and companies better.

In Meetings Suck, world renowned business expert and growth guru Cameron Herold teaches you how to use focused, time effective meetings to help you and your company soar.

This book shows you immediately actionable, step-by-step systems that ensure that you and everyone in your organization improves your meetings, right away.

In the process, you’ll turn meetings that suck into meetings that work. 

In life, we always hear about people who’ve made huge decisions from their gut – without data.Today, I want you to make a decision, not only from your gut, but also from some data.  A decision that is only $12 per employee but will be priceless for your business.

Right now, your gut is telling you something is wrong with your company’s meetings.  You KNOW everyone complains about meetings.

People HATE going to them, they HATE running them, and they really have NO idea which meetings are truly necessary but they hold meetings simply because they think that is what they SHOULD do.

Even some of the smartest CEOs in the world complain about meetings – Elon Musk publicly told employees at Tesla & SpaceX to walk out of meetings if they weren’t being run properly.

I sent Elon a message saying that wasn’t going to fix anything – the key is to fix the root of the problem – NOT continue to ignore why meetings suck.

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Most employees on average spend 1-2 hours per day in meetings.

And likely, none of those employees – front-line staff or leaders – have had any training on how to attend meetings or participate in them, LET ALONE How to RUN THEM.

Consider this…

If the Average employee spends just 1 Hour per day in meetings – that’s 1/8th of their time.

If the Average employee earns $50,000 per year.

And they’re spending 1/8th of their time in meetings, that means you’re paying $6,250 dollars per year for just ONE employee to attend meetings.

The reality is, employees spend 1/8th of their time – and 1/8th of your company’s payroll – doing something they have literally NO idea how to do.

The Reality is…

95% of employees are booking & leading meetings – and they have NEVER been trained on how to run them.

95% of employees have had NO training on how to show up and participate in the meetings they attend daily.

And 95% of employees and companies have no idea what meetings are even necessary to hold.

Meetings CAN be hugely effective – IF you know how to run them

Meetings don’t SUCK, we just SUCK at running meetings. 

Investing $15 per employee – to help ensure the $50,000 a year you spend on them is an obvious and easy choice.

This could be the most impactful $15 you’ll ever spend and will save the company’s money, time and resources instantly.

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Free PR: How To Get Chased By The Press Without Hiring A PR Firm

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What they’re saying:

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“The ultimate guidebook for those looking to get press, grow their brand, and get in front of the masses. Free PR is the roadmap you’ve been looking for.”

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“I told Cameron to write the book on generating free PR. I’m excited to see that he’s finally sharing his secrets with the world. This is a must read for any entrepreneurial company and marketing team.”

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The Miracle Morning for
Entrepreneurs: Elevate Your SELF to
Elevate Your BUSINESS

READY FOR EXPLOSIVE GROWTH AS AN ENTREPRENEUR AND ACCELERATED SUCCESS IN THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

A step-by-step guide to enjoying the roller-coaster ride of growth — while getting the most out of life as an entrepreneur. A growth-focused approach: The book is divided into three sections, which cover planning for fast growth, building a company for fast growth, and leading for fast growth. Each topic the author covers — from creating a vision for the company’s future to learning how to generate free PR for a developing company — is squarely focused on the end goal: doubling the size of the entrepreneur’s company in three years or less. A down-to-earth action plan: Herold’s experienced-based advice never gets bogged down in generalities or theory. Instead, he offers a wealth of practical tips, including: How to design meetings for maximum efficiency; How to hire top-quality talent; How to grow in particularly tough markets; How to put together a board of advisors — even for a smaller company; How even the busy entrepreneur can achieve a work/life balance.

READY FOR EXPLOSIVE GROWTH AS AN ENTREPRENEUR AND ACCELERATED SUCCESS IN THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

Hal Elrod’sThe Miracle Morning has helped redefine the mornings and the lives of millions of readers since 2012. Since then, careers have been launched, goals have been met, and dreams have been realized, all through the power of the Miracle Morning’s six Life S.A.V.E.R.S.

THESE SIX DAILY PRACTICES WILL FUEL YOUR EFFORTS TO CREATE AND SUSTAIN POSITIVE CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE.

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Start giving your business and your life the very best opportunities for success, right now.

A step-by-step guide to enjoying the roller-coaster ride of growth — while getting the most out of life as an entrepreneur. A growth-focused approach: The book is divided into three sections, which cover planning for fast growth, building a company for fast growth, and leading for fast growth. Each topic the author covers — from creating a vision for the company’s future to learning how to generate free PR for a developing company — is squarely focused on the end goal: doubling the size of the entrepreneur’s company in three years or less. A down-to-earth action plan: Herold’s experienced-based advice never gets bogged down in generalities or theory. Instead, he offers a wealth of practical tips, including: How to design meetings for maximum efficiency; How to hire top-quality talent; How to grow in particularly tough markets; How to put together a board of advisors — even for a smaller company; How even the busy entrepreneur can achieve a work/life balance.