2 Most Important Fundamentals of Public Relations

Apr 24, 2020

Are you discouraged when there is a slow time in your business? Or there’s an economic downturn and you think you won’t get ahead because you might lose all your clients? You may begin to think you have to put your business on hold. Sometimes you may even think you want to quit and go in a different direction. But the good news is that the fundamentals of public relations never change.

That is your lifeline!

The economy can be in a slump, but those fundamentals of PR won’t change. They can help you stay afloat in times where it looks like nobody will make any money because there’s a recession or depression or whatever. 

I’ve grown my business even in the 2008/2009 recession and even made more money. You don’t have to be insensitive during slow times, but you can continue to help your clients and even onboard new clients while you continue using the fundamentals of public relations.

Focus On The Fundamentals of Public Relations

What are the two most important fundamentals of public relations?

They are, (drum roll please!):

  • Timing 
  • Relevance 

Those fundamentals will make you an effective communicator on behalf of your clients. These fundamentals are what make good pitching and good story angles because they are good PR practices.

They will never change no matter what is happening in the world or in uncertain economic times. 

What “timing and relevance” means is that you pitch the right editors, writers, freelancers, and journalists at the right time with the right story angle. 

The fundamentals of public relations will convert extremely well during challenging times as well as normal times. The media is still looking to write content. They still have stories to tell and they want to keep their jobs too.

Many editors talk about the value the PR industry brings to them. Publicists give editors stories and package them in creative ways. They want to support us and we want to support them. 

Don’t shy away from doing your job just because of uncertainty. Those fundamentals are the most important things that actually work all the time. 

Tapping Into Trends

Tapping into trends at the time of uncertainty is key to tailoring your pitches and story angles. You want to keep your story angles relevant and timely.

Focus on the right contacts and individually tailor your pitches and story angles. 

A great example is when we were all in quarantine during the coronavirus pandemic. We tied into the fact that the entire world is in quarantine and we’re all trying to stay healthy. We’re all in our homes and some of us work remotely. Those are the themes of those times. 

Related: How to Stay on Top of PR Trends + Be Successful Long-Term

Good Pitching Fundamentals 

We had a client ask us what makes us different.

I said I don't know what the other PR professionals have tried but we know that it comes down to good pitching fundamentals. It means not cutting corners and not mass pitching.

It means really focusing on the right story to the right editor at the right time and custom tailoring your pitches.

That’s what works.

Then when you get great results you’re able to leverage those relationships for other clients. 

Those are the building blocks. 

Focus on the fundamentals of public relations, because you can tell great stories and position your clients’ products with timely and relevant story angles. Add value to their readership by being relevant.

The Three P’s

Follow the three Ps: 

Persistence, passion, and patience = press placements.

This will always make you an effective communicator.

Keep Learning And Growing 

A lot of people ask us how they can hone in and refine their skills and master their skills.

You can be a beginner and be looking to learn the fundamental basics or you could be at an advanced level.

If you think about professional athletes who are the best in the world, they still work with coaches to refine their skills. They practice all the time and they are continually learning and finding ways to get better.

So no matter where you are in your PR journey, there’s always more to learn.

I’ve been in the PR industry for 15 years now and I always invest in learning more. Right now I’m in a $30,000 a year mastermind. You can increase your education at any level. 

Focusing on the fundamentals of public relations will help you position the right angle at the right time. This is what always works with PR. Add value and take those core results that you get and leverage them to get more work and to create more ongoing relationships with the media. 

Become a trusted source to your media contacts so that they come back to you again and again. 

It's my goal to help you master your skills so that you can continue to get great results and leverage those results even during challenging times.