7. Contact Information Allison Schlumper Georgia Southern University Public Relations Major aschlum1@georgiasouthern.edu
Editor's Notes
Richard Laermer is the author of the brand new book 2011: Trendspotting. He is the CEO of RLM PR and is the best-selling author of Punk Marketing and all wrote other books, including Full Frontal PR.Laermer is sought as a speaker and media trainer and has co-hosted a TV show on TLC called,Taking Care of Business. His blog with Kevin Dugan received PRSA’s Bronze Anvil Medal for Best Blog. Laermer worked as a journalist for several years and some of his work has been featured in the New York Times, USA Today, New York magazine, and many others.He hosts seminars for groups and organizations and is currently living in New York.
The main goal of Full Frontal PR is to teach people how to create publicity and use it to their benefit. I learned that word of mouth (in Laermer’s opinion) is the best type of exposure, but it can be difficult to achieve. There are many ways to manage and achieve word of mouth, and the book goes over many ways to do this.Laermer says that “media and journalist are the merchants of exposure.” They are the means by which people can get into the world of publicity. The best thing I learned throughout the book was how to generate buzz. In Chapter 3, Laermer gives the power tools for building buzz, which are: analyst meetings, product testing, B-Roll, Crisis Management, Embargo, Events, Exclusive, In-person interview, leak, media tour, press conference, press kit, press release, surveys, trend story, and video news releases. The reason I listed all of these is because it made me realize how hard and long the process of building buzz and gaining exposure for yourself or your company will be. Laermer also gives a ninety day timeline to “all-out buzz,” and it gives a detailed look at what you must do every day for 90 days to generate buzz for yourself.
You must be a confident spokesperson to win over the press. Laermer gives a list of 27 media relations do or die commandments such as: don’t bribe journalists, don’t miss a deadline, etc. This surprised me because I had never put much thought into getting along with journalists or media networks, but they play a major part in helping with your exposure. Another part of the book that surprised me was the “e-tiquette” secion. Laermer gives a list of tips to “mind your electronic manners,” such as: keep your message short, avoid huge attachments, and write a hand written note from time to time.
In the back of the book, there is a whole chapter with sources and websites that will help pr professionals to gain knowledge and resources about what they are looking for. I would like to go to some of these sites to find out more information about topics that were in Full Frontal PR.
Full Frontal PR had a variety of tips and trades to use in the PR world. There was a lot of information about how to help yourself or your company to build buzz and gain exposure. Any PR professional would benefit from reading this book and I would definitely recommend it.
