Media Expert George McQuade plans to speak to the LA chapter of Service Corps of Retired Executives, which guides budding entrepreneurs with real-world advice for starting and managing a small business.
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) August 30, 2004 -- There are only so many hot new products or breakthrough achievements with which a business can capture a journalists attention," said Executive Vice President George McQuade, MAYO Communications (www.MayoPR.com), a full service Los Angeles public relations firm, who is scheduled to speak at the Los Angeles Chapter of the Service Corps of Retire Executives (SCORE), Tuesday, 10 a.m., September 21, 2004, 10:00 a.m., on Creating A Buzz For Your Business,"
The event takes place at the Westside Pavilion Shopping Center, 3rd Floor Meeting room, 10800 West Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90064.
Mc Quade said, There are five simple steps to help you create a buzz for your business."
•The Internet – one of the most under utilized communications is your website, search engines, directories and there is a lot of free services for websites, directories and small business.
•Newsletters/ezines (electronic newsletters) help announce business developments and activities
•Public Speaking – When you speak on current issues or hot button" topics at a business luncheon or event youre making your company and yourself newsworthy.
•News releases and a calendar of events about your company or activities alert editors about your company and you become a future resource.
•Word of Mouth – mixers, meetings, toastmasters, fundraisers and other business events youre invited to are great places to create a buzz about your business and activities youre involved in."
To make it work for your CEO or your business, Mc Quade contends that you need to help a reporter create a story that not only fits your business, but fulfills their assignment. For example, when a breaking story on a new product or crisis is reported, editors search for people who can talk about them from prevention to just to simplifying how a process or product works. When former President Ronald Reagan died journalists scrambled for experts or doctors who could talk about Alzheimers disease," he said.
Exposing your company to the media is one of the most valuable things your company can do," explained Mc Quade. You educate customers, stakeholders, prospects and other important audiences on your company, your product, service and, and you get them to start talking about them.
I can count on my fingers the number of corporate and government CEOs and managers who really believe that the media is out to get them," he said. Journalists are really out to get their story. Most reporters have no interest in making you look bad, but they do look for controversy, which often stems from misinformation from people with their own agenda or the companys competition. This is one more reason to return media phone calls so you can set the record straight. Reporters who earn reputations as being too unfair will find it increasingly difficult to get those great interviews, and therefore, the good stories. Building a solid media relationship is critical to surviving any company crisis, too."
McQuade noted that reporters do look for controversy or the unusual angles. An editor will tell you that controversy makes for more interesting stories; however reporters who research one side of an issue without seeking an opposing view aren't doing their jobs. In any credible newsroom, a story without of balance won't make it past the first editor."
The media is literally the last concern that nonprofits, new business startups and big corporations think about until it is too late, and when a crisis strikes or when the media is interested investigating a CEO or company, theyre not prepared," said McQuade, who specializes media training and media placement and who earned five media awards from Public Relations Society of America, PRSA, LA Chapter last year.
McQuade is also the West Coast Bureau Chief for Jack ODwyer Publications (www.odwyerpr.com), Manhattan, NY, an inside report on media, publicity, public relations and agencies in the U.S. He currently serves as a board member on the Entertainment Publicists Professional Society (EPPS) in Hollywood and is the official EPPS photographer.
About MAYO
MAYO Communications is a full service public relations firm with a niche in branding, media training, media placement, damage control and award-winning marketing campaigns that get results. MAYOs clients include Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC); World Trade Center Assn. Los Angeles/Long Beach and Counterterrorism Expert Elsa Lee to name a few. Last year MAYO added Internet Marketing and Web Design to its portfolio of services.
About SCORE
Executive Service Corps of Retired Executives of Southern California (SCORE), is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit public benefit organization and has been in business since 1981, and is affiliated with a national network Counselors to Americas Small Business." Executive Service Corps is composed of more than 100 pro bono consultants who represent a wealth of management experience and skills. ESC consultants are retired from senior positions in major corporations, businesses, governmental agencies and nonprofit organizations.
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