The document provides guidance on effectively engaging with mass media and social media to promote a business. It discusses maintaining positive relationships with press, preparing for interviews, crafting press releases, and pitching stories to media. The document aims to teach business owners and marketers how to leverage different media platforms to generate publicity and buzz for their company.

1. Romancing the Media for Your Business 2011
1

2. Romancing the Media for Your Business 2011
2

3. Romancing the Media for Your Business 2011
Content
About the Author
Mass Media
1. Understanding media and publicity for your business
2. How to maintain a positive relationship with the
media and press?
3. Effective Crisis Management Skills
4. About Press Release and Media Alert
5. Preparing for Radio interview
6. Preparing for TV interview
7. The Art of Pitching
8. Organising a Press Conference
9. A final word on Effective Media management (part 1)
10. A final word on Effective Media management (part 2)
Social Media / New Media
11. Introduction to Social Media or New Media
12. Interesting statistics about Social Media for your
business consideration
13. The ROI of Social Media : Is it measurable?
14. 10 Keys to Social Media success
15. 5 phases of Strategic approach to Social Media
3

4. Romancing the Media for Your Business 2011
16. Overview of social media tools & Linkedin
17. Using Facebook for Business
18. Social Media File-sharing tools (Part 1)
19. Social Media File-sharing tools (Part 2)
20. Social Media Publishing Tools
21. Social Media Collaboration Tools
22. Conclusion
Summary of Learning Objectives for Mastering Social
Media Leverage
How to connect with Andrew Chow?
4

5. Romancing the Media for Your Business 2011
About the Author
Andrew Chow is a certified
Life Coach, Entrepreneur,
Speaker, Author and Modern
Match Maker. He won the
Spirit of Enterprise Award in
2008 and Successful
Entrepreneur Award in 2010.
Andrew graduated from
Thames Valley University and
had more than 130 interviews
and features about him and his
business since 2005. During the same period, numerous
valuable experiences are drawn from managing the press
and media (Channel News Asia, News 8, 938Live,
Business Times, Zao Bao, Berita Harian, Today, The New
Paper, My Paper, STOMP, FEMALE, HER WORLD,
PEAK, SHAPE, Lifestyle, etc). Andrew is also one of the
choice interview candidates for Singapore lifestyle among
foreign media like Canadian TV, Swiss Radio, German
TV, AFP.
Riding on wave of Social Media, he has successfully
founded 4 social networking portals with more than 12,000
profiles for social and business networking.
5

6. Romancing the Media for Your Business 2011
Andrew is able to develop Social Media courses under
WSQ framework by The Workforce Development Agency
(WDA), and a regular speaker at business meeting
organised by SACEOS, SCCCI and regional conferences.
Specialties:
 Forging of Strategic Alliance
 Sponsorship Management
 Creation of new business models
 Strategic Marketing & Sponsorship Management
 Certified Exhibition Organiser
 Certified NLP Practitioner & Life Coach -
Enneagram
 Profiling - Hypnotherapy - Timeline Intervention
 Public Relation Practitioner Media Management
 Training Seminar Organisation & Planning Trade
Show Management
 Life Coaching
 Personal Branding
 Creation of Social Networking Portal
6

7. Romancing the Media for Your Business 2011
1. Understanding Media and Publicity for your
business
a. Many small and medium enterprises do not
really understand how to work with the media to
generate buzz and publicity. They often have a
misconception that the media publicity is
exclusive to big companies having huge budget
for public relation specialists providing strategic
counsel.
b. Media relation is both an art and a science.
Knowing your basics and adding some creativity
and flair will produce an effective pitch.
c. Understanding what constitute news and
knowing what the media and press want will give
your company a head start in gaining publicity.
Having good publicity about your product and
branding will always enhance the public
perception on their value.
d. There are basically two types of news. The Hard
News which are primarily basic facts and figure.
7

8. Romancing the Media for Your Business 2011
The soft news is news of human interest. The
press usually prefer news that are :
i. Unusual
ii. Current
iii. Local
iv. Abnormal
v. Sensation
vi. Socially impactful
A Public relation practitioner once told me that if
all else fail, there will always be three issues
which are of interest to the media. They are
MONEY, Sex and HEALTH.
e. The press and media are powerful stake holders
of your business. The press usually likes to
develop a story while the media prefer to explore
different angles. For example, there is no story if
you announce to the press that your company is
celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
However, if your company plan to denote 20
million to charity to celebrate its 20th anniversary,
it will be a big story!
8

9. Romancing the Media for Your Business 2011
9

10. Romancing the Media for Your Business 2011
2. How to maintain positive relationship with the media
and press?
o Compile a list of journalists and reporter contacts
and develop friendship with them. Try to remember
their professional interest in their work and seek to
be a resource information centre for other contacts.
Be truthful about the quality of a story and its
sources. Always give reporters special access to
you by releasing your personal mobile number. Send
them an email once in a while you see their features
published.
o The common mistake newsmakers make in dealing
with reporter is to insist on a perfect story to
advocate your position. The reporters’ job isn’t to
protect your reputation or advance your career. Do
not expect them to ask you questions to help you to
say what you want to say.
o All reporters want to produce a professional story,
accepted by their editor and audience with a specific
angle. Understanding their job will enable you to
10

11. Romancing the Media for Your Business 2011
build rapport with them and pave the way for media
pitching.
o Know your rights with the media will be helpful.
Always remember you have the right to be treated
with respect. You can refuse to answer any personal
questions. You have the right to be quoted
accurately. Always repeat your key messages if
there is a need to. You have the right to determine
when and where you will be interviewed.
11

12. Romancing the Media for Your Business 2011
3. Effective Crisis Management Skills
o No company will ever be fully prepared for any
crisis to their business. The key is to develop a
standard contingency plan to keep the public
informed through the media on how they handle
the crisis.
o There are Ten Questions a Reporter Will Want to
Know in a Hard News Situation:
- What happened?
- Why did it happen?
- Was anyone injured or affected from it?
- Could this have been prevented?
- Has this ever happened before?
- Currently, what are you doing about it?
- When will the problem be solved?
- How will you prevent this from happening
again?
- Did you know this was going to happen?
- What would you like to say to those affected?
12

13. Romancing the Media for Your Business 2011
o Have a designated person in your company to
answer questions from the press. In an extreme
crisis situation, the CEO or the Chairman of the
company should preferably be the main spoke
person in order to project an honest and open
attitude.
o When dealing with reporters from the tabloids,
please ensure you handle tricky questions
carefully. Never release information which you
“off the record”, it will be published. Avoid being
put into a situation which you have to answer a
YES or NO. Be prepared for open ended
questions and prepare a Frequent asked
Question (FAQ) list.
a. Try your best to avoid having negative press
publicity. The negative impact will remain in the
minds of the public for a long time. Always
remember if bad press happen once is an
incident. If it happens twice is a coincidence. If it
happens 3 times, it has a pattern! Having it 4
times, it has become a lifestyle!
13

14. Romancing the Media for Your Business 2011
4. Preparing your Press Release / Media Alert
A press release brings information to the attention of the
press and broadcast media, and in turn the public,
generating publicity.
The following guidelines should help you on your way.
 Include basic information. The release should
answer the questions: who, what, when, where, why
and how.
 Get your story across early. If your first sentence or
paragraph is obscure, complicated or boring,
journalists probably won't bother reading on.
 Keep the release concise - one side if possible, and
no more than two.
 Avoid jargon, acronyms and abbreviations unless
they are generally well-known by your target
audience.
 Include quotes - draft them yourself if need be, but
always get them approved!
 Don’t make misleading statements.
 Make sure your subject and style suit the target
audience.
14

15. Romancing the Media for Your Business 2011
 For events, give a precise timetable and location,
including clear information on any opportunities for
photos and interviews in a 'Note to Editors' at the
end of the release.
 Give the release a short title. The purpose is to
attract interest so make it clear and self-explanatory.
 Put the date on the release.
 Always include a contact name and phone number,
an email and web address for further information.
 Use double or 1.5 lines spacing to make the release
easier to read.
 Check with all those involved for factual accuracy.
 Check spelling, grammar and punctuation.
15

16. Romancing the Media for Your Business 2011
5. Preparing for Radio Interview
Before the Interview
o Practice both long and short answers
o Submit a list of suggested questions to the
producer or host of the show
o Obtain a volume control for your telephone (Any
Radio store for $20.00)
o Learn how to turn Call Waiting off on your phone
o Arrange for your own callers to participate
The Day of the Interview
o Turn off the ringer on other telephones near you
o Have a glass of water nearby
o Arrange your notes on your desk so that they
can be easily accessed
o Perform mental and physical relaxation
exercises
16

17. Romancing the Media for Your Business 2011
During the Interview
o Speak in a normal conversational voice, but
display enthusiasm
o Be creative by providing useful information,
revealing new information, or using memorable
words or phrases
o Limit your answers to less than five sentences.
o Avoid using filler words (Umm, well, like, you
know, really, etc.)
o Concentrate on the interview process to
anticipate the upcoming moments
o Do not speak too much, leave room for the
interviewer to ask questions. It’s his show after
all, not yours.
o Make your "sales pitch" only at the end of the
interview.
o Repeat all numbers, addresses, URLs, etc.
After the Interview
o Send the producer and host a written thank-you
note
17

18. Romancing the Media for Your Business 2011
o Follow up on any promises made on-air to
listeners
o Remind the producer of your interest in being a
guest again
18

19. Romancing the Media for Your Business 2011
6. Preparing for Television interview
 Dress Code
o Do not wear bright white, weather map blue,
or chrome key blue.
o When you are booked for a studio
appearance, find out the colour of the set and
dress so that you don't blend in.
o Do not wear contrasting patterns. Wear bold,
fashionable ties, but not ones that distract.
o Do not wear any shiny fabrics or anything
that glares.
o Do not wear bracelets. Women should wear
pearls instead of shiny necklaces.
 Gestures and Body Movement
o Use gestures economically to make points.
o Too much body movement is distracting.
o Every movement is body language and some
of it is not good.
o Leave your body open and quiet. Both men
and women should cross their legs when
seated.
19