I recently attended my seventeenth GWA (The Association for Garden Communicators) Conference in beautiful Buffalo, NY.

It’s hard for me to believe I’ve been in garden PR for almost 20 years (gasp)! I guess I love what I do, right? It’s always a joy attending this yearly conference, which allows me to reconnect with many of my garden friends that I only get to see once a year. And, of course, making new friends, too!

After working and attending a variety of industry events throughout my career, I want to share a few tips for connecting with the media that will help you be more successful when pitching. After all, this is a great opportunity for face time and relationship building!

Let’s dig in with these quick tips for making media relations magic at your next trade show.

When I first started working in public relations, I had no idea that relationships were going to be such an important part of my career. After the first year of handling PR for a high-tech company, I quickly learned that earning media coverage requires strong working relationships with journalists.

Even after more than twenty years, I still keep in touch with many of the journalists I met early on in my career.

Now with even more platforms to cultivate media relationships, making these connections has become easier than ever.

Continue reading to learn how you can build strong relationships with journalists.

This year is winding down, which means we’re busy as elves creating end-of-the-year reports. Getting earned media coverage meaningful for our clients is our number one priority as their public relations partner. 

All through the year, we aim to provide material helpful to our clients’ goals and bottom lines. We craft stories and press releases, work with key influencers and pitch our client’s key messages to gain coveted media placements, which is by far our top priority since these placements show our PR efforts visually.

We thought it would be fun to take a look at a few of our top media placements that we garnered this year, how each hit was achieved and why it mattered to our clients.

Drum roll please!

I never thought of myself as a brand until recently. I’ve been in public relations for more than twenty years and without even realizing it, I’ve become my own personal brand that builds relationships and shares advice on social channels. And I’ve even secured my own personal web profile. 

When most people think of a brand today, a company is usually the first thing that pops into their heads. In the age of digital marketing, everyone can be their own brand.

Continue reading to learn how to create and maintain your personal brand.