Finally, be quotable.

You must learn to speak in sound bites. In world of journalism, less is more. If you give reporter too much to work with, chances are you will be misquoted, taken out of context or simply lost in shuffle. Keep your answers brisk, pithy and sharp. Don’t be afraid to pause while you organize your thoughts. Better yet, try to operate from a one-page set of prepared talking points that stake out your iconoclastic position. No matter what question you are asked, you can always steer conversation back to your talking points.

One other point: You must be ready to reposition yourself with times.

We live in a rapidly changing world. Whatever issue you seize, over time issue with mutate or vanish. You must be ready to stake out new territory when opportunity arises.

For example, in 1980s, many marketers staked out a position as experts in what was then known as “voice text.” These were phone numbers that you could call to get voice messages on stock quotes, sports scores and other brief helpful items.

Then came Internet. “Voice text” vanished and is now hardly remembered at all. An expert in this field was forced to find a new field.

This eventually happens to everyone in every field. It will happen to you.

And that’s OK.

The PR Rainmaker considers “change” to be just another word for “opportunity.”

Copyright 2003 by W.O. Cawley Jr.

First I wrote a news release. OK, so it did not read quite like a typical news release. It read like a newspaper article. Actually, it read like five different newspaper articles, because I wrote a completely different story for each of five newspapers in area. To some degree, I was able to emulate each one's style.

Next, we decided to provide photographs. We dressed my MP in a postal cap and had him carrying a postal bag. I snapped shots of him at doorways chatting with residents. This was just too "human interest" for any newspaper to ignore. Off to one-hour photo developer, then we chose five best shots and attached one to each of news releases.

Zoom, zoom. We hand delivered an envelope to each newspaper. The entire process took us just five hours from knocking on first door.

RESULT: Each newspaper had its own, unique, original story with its own, unique, original photo. This made journalists happy. Four out of five editors even used headlines I provided! It also made readers, many of who received two or three of newspapers, believe media had been there in person . . . making story all more credible.

Can you repeat this success? Yes. If you want to get great media coverage, but you are afraid media will pick up a negative angle, this is recipe to use:

1.Position your business as you would like to be seen. 2.Find a way to demonstrate your position or characteristic. 3.Write story for each newspaper as newspaper would write it, but place it in format of a news release. 4.Get some great visuals, going for action or something with a twist, and ensure each newspaper has a unique photo. 5.Let newspapers know that no other media outlet has same photograph.

Of course, it is always best to invite media to your event and serve donuts, but sometimes NOT inviting them is a better way to get not just "a" story, but "right" story.