Hello!

Welcome to Issue 2 of the AlexanderG Public Relations Newsletter. St. Patrick's Day is now a memory and we look forward to the promise of warmer weather, brighter skies and brand new days.

In The News

We're excited that our philosophy on Public Relations in the 21st Century was quoted in the Dallas Morning News on March 17, 2010. Click here to check it out.


From the AlexanderG Whiz Blog

Here are excerpts of recent posts in our AlexanderG Whiz Blog. Just click the links below each excerpt to get the full story.

The Press Release: Is It Worth It?

I almost always write a press release. Why, in this day and age of email, blogs and the insouciant charm of Twitter, do I bother? “Is it,” you may ask, “worth it?”

Yes. The press release is your mothership document. It contains the info that the media is interested in most: Who, What, Why, When and Where. If it’s written well and has a catchy lede yet doesn’t wear the reader out with minutiae or boilerplate, it can serve you well. From this mothership sails the speedboats: SEO messages, Twitter Tweets, media advisories or PSA copy. It’s also handy to send as deeper background for those with peaked interest.

Notice I said it can serve you well and that I always write a press release; that doesn’t mean I always send it. It may end up posted on the client’s website or in a requested e-press kit or nowhere at all but my laptop.

Read the rest at www.AlexGPR.com

The Starbucks Subconscious

Mike Brown of Brainzooming interviewed me this week about the impact on creativity of working in public, particularly as I was writing my mystery eBook, "Pilate's Cross". I refer to it as my “Starbucks Subconscious.” It was fun. Thanks Mike!

Watch the Video

Toyota Accelerates Discussion of Social Media and PR

The PR car is idling at the intersection of social media and Toyota’s response to their disastrous debacle. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.) Toyota, through a series of missteps, has virtually destroyed their market growth and given their public image a flat tire. However, they’re earning points for being more forthright (even though it’s pretty late in the roadtrip) for their unvarnished use of social media in the form of “Toyota Conversations,” a site that aggregates Toyota news as well as Toyota’s Twitter updates and recall information.

Catharine P. Taylor hits the nail on the head with this simple statement:

”...given the rise of social media, jumping into a conversation when it’s most against you is perhaps the only way that a major company can appropriately handle PR these days.”

She’s right. There’s only so much good–and frankly much more damage–that a one-way conversation (read: “traditional PR”) about an event this catastrophic can do.

Read the rest at www.AlexGPR.com

Until Next Time

We update our blog constantly, so we hope you'll make AlexGPR.com a daily habit (or make it really easy and subscribe to our RSS feed). You can also follow our Tweets on Twitter: @A_Greenwood. Facebook aficionados can join our fan page community--just click here or search for "AlexanderG Public Relations" and click on the "Become a Fan" button.

Let's make this a two-way street, shall we? Send questions, comments, good BBQ recipes--or just say hey--by writing us at Team@AlexGPR.com.

That's it for this edition. We hope it provided you with some useful information and food for thought. Please feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends and colleagues.

Take care!

The AlexanderG Public Relations Team