Things a Publicist Cannot Control

By Melissa A Vitale 

As much as I like to tell myself in my mirror, I am not queen of the world, nor do I possess any un-earthly abilities that they haven't written about in PR and business books. 

I'm obsessively organized. I'm reliable. I keep things simple. I'm detail-oriented. I think of solutions before they're needed. I anticipate needs and plan for delays. But there's only so much that is in my control. 

Some things that most publicist's cannot control include: 

• Breaking news & 24/hr newscycles: Did something just happen that took over headlines on every website? A celebrity death, a political upset, a civil rights case, a national protest, a pandemic. Journalism's resources are far from unlimited. If there's something that audiences will need to know about, journalists must immediately table what they're working on to focus on the most pressing issue. If not, their readers will go somewhere else to get the updates they need. Publicists thinking that their clients' beauty products are more pressing than the quieting universal consumer confusion are bound to lose relationships and be branded as tone-deaf.  
• Editors' & journalists' schedules: Did a journalist reschedule your interview multiple times? Did your meeting or deskside get canceled last-minute? That's unfortunate and I know they feel bad about causing any inconvenience. Maybe in 20 years of PR, I'll have a reputation that no one will cancel on my clients, but frankly, it's my understanding of their schedules that makes journalists want to keep working with me. While I try to anticipate everything, and will double-confirm all client meetings, there are still things that come up that journalists need to cover that is more timely. They literally report on what's happening in the world. It's not them, it's media! 
• Editorial Guidelines/Website capabilities: Many outlets have editorial guidelines that dictate what they can and cannot feature. Some business magazines won't feature companies that are publicly traded outside of the NYSE. Some entrepreneurial magazines won't feature companies that are publicly traded at all. When the magazine makes these decisions, there's nothing a publicist can do except burn relationships.
• Editorial Guidelines for Linking: Journalists and editors want to credit brands, especially sources. MAVPR ensures all correct webpage links are provided to journalists. However, some sites don't link to any brand pages. Others will link to any type of brand except a sex or cannabis brand. It's all their guidelines and publicists have no say in that.  
• Editorial Guidelines for photo credit: More about that here. 
• Editorial delays or holds: Sometimes an editor cannot dedicate the time to a story as originally planned. They may have shifted focus momentarily or had a more time-sensitive project come through. This often comes down to time and money that they can dedicate. There's only so many hours in the day and publications can only commission so many stories a month. A publicist can try to bitch, complain or persuade but again, the more understanding, the more likely the story will be revisited once there's resources to dedicate to it again. 
• Client error, missed deadlines, or lack of deliverables: Just like I am not responsible for an editor's schedule, I won't be held responsible for my client's. Again I anticipate and plan ahead. I allow buffer times for all my client's deadlines. If my client passes the padded deadline, I followup often excessively. If at that point, they still miss deadline for deliverables or written interview, it's in God's hands. 
• Editor/Client Oversight: Every publication has criteria they require to cover a brand. Sometime's its a minimum of funding, other time's they only want to feature marginalized entrepreneurs. If an editor or client fails to tell me something that disqualifies the client from coverage, there's nothing I can do. Like your lawyer, I can only plan and control for the things that I know.
• Editorial Error: The members of press are humans too and humans make mistakes! Not only that, editors look at thousands of words a day. They edit niche stories so they have obscure spellings saved to their dictionary. They're also looking at a brand for the first time in a story. They don't know who a brand is, how their co-founders' names are spelled. MAVPR can notify and request changes in cases of editorial error, but we do not maintain the responsibility for someone else's actions. 
• Sales resulting from the article: Read all about that here. 

For those things I can control, MAVPR is proud to have built a reputation for being a reliable source despite our clients' manic schedules resulting in regular press coverage in the biggest names in media today. 

For those looking to increase their brand's press coverage, learn more about MAVPR’s services via: 
melissaavitale.com/services.html