HAMPTON ROADS, Va - A former journalist and media relations expert, Alison Maloni offers insights on how to manage your reputation on social media and in the news.

Conferences. They are great for education and fabulous for networking. Anyone who has been to a large conference has found value in them. But what are you doing to take it to the next level?

Today we’re talking about looking great for your unplanned media interview. Your PR team has been pitching you as an expert to the media – and one day you get the call that a reporter wants to interview you. This is great news…. but they’ll be at your office in an hour. Not so great news if it’s casual Friday in your office.

I’ve taken a couple weeks off from writing my Friday Favorites and I’m finally back at it. Today, it’s all about my clients.

When I started my own firm I decided that I would only work with people who I truly believe in. I will NEVER help promote a product, person or company that I don’t feel passionate about.

Today’s Friday Favorites is again slightly different than the norm. It’s not about a business or product…it’s about people. Sometimes it takes a crisis to see the good in the world.

Today’s Friday Favorites is all about a college program that’s shaping the best and brightest communication professionals around. When I was in high school, the top journalism and communication schools were Emerson and Syracuse. Fast forward twenty years and Western New England University’s Communications Department has made a name for itself.

Imagine this. You’re sitting in the green room at Fox News or MSNBC. You are being prepped by the producer. Your heart is racing. Your palms are sweating. You make the walk down the long hallway to the live studio. You get the cue that you are two minutes away from going on the national television news. And you’re live.

Today we’re talking about how social media and PR work together. Before twitter, facebook and snapchat, the only way to let people know that you and your company were going on to be on the 10 pm news is an email blast or a phone call.

They squeeze the last drop out of the toothpaste because they’re on a budget, a tight budget.

It’s the best feeling for a publicist to be told by the media, “Yes…we’ll cover that story.” Our heart beats with excitement and we can’t wait to tell our clients. But…the good news needs to come with a disclaimer.

Have you ever held back on telling someone something? Maybe you didn’t think it was a good idea or you were afraid of what they thought. Don’t do that. Communication is key in both your personal and professional life. Don’t ever hold back. If you do, you may be miss out on a great opportunity.

The number one question public relation firms receive is, what’s the value of the media coverage. Where’s the ROI?

Public Relations is not a tangible item so it can be difficult to see the ROI at first. It takes strategy, a ton of pitching and great relationships with the media to get press coverage. But once that happens, you will see it all come back to you. Here are a few examples.

Last year, we pitched our client to the national media about a new test that he implemented to anyone applying to work for his company. You may have heard of the “Snowflake Test” by Kyle Reyes, CEO of The Silent Partner Marketing. Reyes was tired of receiving applications from entry level candidates asking for the world.

Long story short, Reyes was doing something controversial and it involved millennials and snowflakes – things that the media was and continue to talk about.

As publicists, we knew this had what journalists call “legs.” (major potential). We pitched the story and within minutes had a response from Fox and Friends. The next day we were in a car to New York during a massive snowstorm. Reyes received a two and a half minute segment on the couch with all three anchors, Ainsley Earhardt, Brian Kilmeadeand Steve Doocy. During that time his website crashed from so many people going on the site. So when people say that they aren’t watching the news anymore, I beg to differ.

Within a few hours, Reyes had thousands of emails from other business owners in support of what he was doing. He booked 10 new client appointments throughout the country. That was just within 2 hours of his interview. Since then, he has been asked been on the news, other national media outlets have interviewed him and his client base increased significantly.

Now, let’s get to the dollar amount. If you were to buy a television commercial during the number one rated morning news show you are talking about thousands of dollars for a 30-second advertisement. You can’t really do anything with that commercial other than hope that your target audience sees it.

But, if you appear on the news for a 2.5-minute segment, then it is on the national news website along with social media channels and your outreach, that equates to nearly a hundred thousand dollars worth of advertising. In the public’s eye, you are the expert, your company has a great story and your product is a must-have.

Here’s one more example for our numbers readers. For another client, we were able to get a 3 -minute segment on Varney & Co, which is on the Fox Business Network. Within the first hour of the segment, our client saw an increase in sales by $10,000. And that was just in the first hour! They have since been back on the national news and are doing extremely well.

We all know that public relations help build a companies reputation and image, but it also has a significant impact on a companies revenue stream.

If you have an example of how public relations helped build your brand, we would love to hear!

Today we’re talking about looking great for your media interview. Keep in mind, these interviews will be all over social media… so not only do you want to sound your best, but you want to look great too! If you’re lucky enough to have a scheduled interview then you have time to plan. So hit your closet.

Today we’re talking about the reality of press coverage

As a former journalist I am going to let you in on some secrets when it comes to pitching your story to the media and getting coverage.

Have you ever called someone and when they don’t answer, you text them? How about if you send an email, then you send a text saying, I just emailed you?I’m guilty of both of these things and being a “little” impatient.