

Ask HN: Which books/blogs on PR would you recommend? - justliving

I am currently trying to teach myself about the basics of "public relations". Could you recommend any good books to start with? What about good blogs on PR?<p>Thanks a lot in advance for your help!
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michaelpinto
Eons ago i was listening to a Jason Calacanis podcast and he gave an amazing
insight: You should always do your own PR. At first I thought this was unfair
as Jason is a genius at self promotion which is a gift few geeks have, but
then he spelled out his technique which I actually wrote down:

1\. Make friends in the press BEFORE you pitch

2\. Is your story better than anything on techmeme?

3\. ...then look for writers in your space

4\. Leave a smart comment on a story (i.e. linkbait)

5\. Do a blog to linkbait (take your comment and blow it up to a post) this is
because journalists obsess over the comments

6\. ...do the same with twitter

7\. Learn from cluetrain manefesto, it's about a conversation

8\. Journalists hate PR people

9\. Obsess about your market, know EVERYTHING about your space with anything
less is more (don't do a long press release), use a casual tone and just write
5 words (i.e. a ping mail)

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justliving
thanks a lot, very insightful. Had actually never heard about Jason Calacanis.
Will check out his podcast and his blog, looks quite interesting :-) !

Would you remember any other blog/book/recommendation you read at the time ...
?

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michaelpinto
Here are my quick thoughts:

\- Do a search on each big blog for "why I hate PR people" and learn from
those mistakes (there is an infamous one on TechCrunch from Arrington)

\- If you want to learn the basics just get a book like "PR for Dummies" to
learn the 101

\- In my own experience with PR you need to care about results: If that's the
case unless you are willing to invest the time and have the skills there is
actual value to hiring a PR pro. If you look at Apple back in the day Regis
McKenna really helped to put them on the map (<http://www.regis.com>). When
you hire a good PR person what they bring to the table is a good rolodex, not
the ability to pump out press releases and the like. The rolodex and the doors
that open are what you're paying for IMHO.

~~~
justliving
great advise! Thanks a lot!

