The Public Relations Formula

Do you ever feel like everything is hurry up? Hurry up and get it done. In public relations work, the hurry up get my product known and make me famous hovers over the campaign like a fog unable to lift until a best seller is produced. So many authors and clients in general jump in ready to make their books a best seller. They enjoy their launch party and sell perhaps several hundred to family, friends and associates, and the lag time sets in. The campaign well under way may or may not produce results in the dailies and TV. The client though is eagerly awaiting the ring of the register to begin. This puts a lot of pressure on our team. Thus, the sense of hurry up and get it done hovers over us. I remember when I was promoting my own book Second Bloom that I would do a TV spot and then hit my Blackberry with anxious abandon. I thought, we just got interviewed, here come the sales. And then I was disappointed. No instant sales. What happened? Another time, we did an interview on the publishing company and instant interest arose and my in-box was full. Hey, this result didn't mirror my book's result, what happened? The truth is that even with the greatest PR campaign, good reviews and interviews, you're still facing a fickle buying public. The mood of the public sometimes dictates interests. Or maybe your product just doesn't hit home in the here and now. PR is not a magic formula for instant success. It's a tried model that we know can work; it requires persistence and perseverance; and it requires you hang in for the big picture. All we can do on our end is our job, which is to promote your product or service to the best of our abilities.