Month: February 2019

Do I need PR or SEO? This assessment will help you.

Posted on by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias

There’s a lot confusion around PR and SEO. I hear it frequently from both clients and potential clients, as they co-mingle these two terms.

PR and SEO might seem similar on the surface but their approach requires a different strategy and execution. Both have different objectives, and that end-game requires a different pregame.

Let’s start with SEO. Google doesn’t reveal much about its search algorithm but they have revealed publicly that content plays a pivotal role in search ranking. Quality content gets a higher ranking with Google, moving you up to the first page. How you market that content also influences your ranking.

How do Media Placements help with SEO?

Media placements are another factor that influence SEO. Google places a higher value on websites that are mentioned in the news. For example, if your business is featured in the New York Post as the best law firm, Google’s algorithm will rightfully assume that your business has more credibility than a law firm that wasn’t mentioned. So in simple terms, the more media outlets that write about your business, the more credibility and higher ranking Google will provide.

One of the biggest misnomers with SEO is that you need a back-link to benefit from a news story. That’s actually a major misconception. Google changed the game after they realized SEO firms were cheating the game and buying back-links. And several years ago, Google even filed a patent that allows it to rank sites without the use of a back-link. In simple terms, if a news site doesn’t include a back-link to your website, your business still benefits with the ranking.

Do Press Releases help with SEO or Media Placements?

Reporters and journalists are smart. They don’t want to read an advertisement. They are looking for the news editorial value, which is completely juxtaposed to content marketing. If you’re trying to get news coverage from a press release, you should be thinking of the news editorial value first. If you want to improve your search ranking with a press release, you do the opposite and prioritize the most important keywords.

The best PR firms will leverage the news cycle by positioning the client into the news cycle – around an editorial angle, not a marketing angle. This is a crucial strategy that MACIAS PR applies to all of our campaigns.

Of course, this is a very high-level view of SEO, but it does provide best practices to improving your search ranking out of the gate. There are of course other tactics, strategies and approaches that apply to both PR and SEO.

Who is the best publicist in the world?

For example, if you type into Google: “who is the best publicist in the world?” – you should see a description about about Mark Macias. Now that involves a tactic that is neither SEO nor PR.

Want to see how we can apply these approaches to your business? Click on the green button at the bottom and message me.

We can also give you a PR estimate if you click here.

Marketing peers named MACIAS PR the 2017 and 2018 Strategic PR Firm of the Year. In 2015, 2016 and 2017, Finance Monthly named MACIAS PR the Financial PR Firm of the Year. The founder – Mark Macias – is a former Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS in New York. He’s also a frequent contributor with CNBC and author of the books, Beat the Press: Your Guide to Managing the Media and the Tao of PR.

Working with Creative People – Harvard Business Review Study

Posted on by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias

I’m going to open up to you.

When I was an Executive Producer at NBC and Senior Producer at CBS in New York, I wasn’t easy to manage. In fact, my News Director with NBC in Miami told me bluntly, “Mark, you’re not easy to manage.”

In hindsight, I wasn’t a “yes” producer. I was always looking for the next big story to tell. And when we debated stories in the morning meeting, I continued to sell it even after the story was rejected. That approach must have worked because NBC promoted me to one of youngest Executive Producers in New York.

Fast forward to today. I just read an article in the Harvard Business Review that can help your business when it comes to managing creative people. It’s titled, “What Stan Lee Knew About Managing Creative People.” The article will also help you get the most out of your PR firm.

How to get the most out of your PR Firms

The best PR firms hire creative people. These agencies want to hire publicists who won’t quit even when reporters say no. As the owner of this PR firm, I want to hire publicists and researchers who will challenge conventional thinking. This approach is helpful in PR because it helps us deliver more interesting stories, which is the landmark of quality journalism

MACIAS PR takes this same approach with our media strategy. We continue to search for creative enterprise angles that haven’t been told before. And we are relentless. Just today, a CBS reporter said he finally sold his bosses on our story. We’ve been working him for weeks now and it paid off.

But what does this have to do with your business?

If you want to hire a creative PR firm, let them do their jobs. Yes, you know your industry but hopefully you trust them enough, along with their strategy.

Let your PR firm run and challenge the status quo by coming up with the best enterprise angles for your business. You will help your PR firm by offering new ideas and keeping your publicists alert of new developments. At the same time, the best PR firms – like MACIAS PR – will continue to search for new ways to position you with the media.

According to HBR, creative people need to keep busy; they want credit; they’re always dreaming big; and they want money. It seems like common sense, but if the Harvard Business Review published a study on it, maybe more people need to be reminded of it.

Give credit to your PR team, even if it’s just internally. It will work wonders for your business down the road when no one is watching. And if they’re helping you sell more products and services, tell them.

If you want to hear unconventional stories and creative narratives, reach out to us. I’ll give you a customized strategy over the phone that I promise will make you say, “I didn’t think of that.” Just let us do our jobs. 🙂

Finance Monthly and ACQ5 5 – an international industry award – named Macias PR the 2017 Strategic PR Firm of the Year, and PR Firm of the Year – USA. This was the third year in a row that Finance Monthly recognized our firm. The founder – Mark Macias – is a former Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS in New York. He is also a PR contributor with CNBC, providing media analysis, insight and crisis advice on timely business topics.

How Much Does PR Cost? MACIAS PR Unveils Free Tool That Reveals Cost

Posted on by Mark Macias

NEW YORK, February 22, 2019 (Newswire.com) – It’s the question every business owner wants to know: How much does PR cost? The top tech and healthcare PR firm MACIAS PR has just unveiled a free tool to help all founders, marketers and business owners identify the cost for any public relations campaign – without even picking up the phone.

FreePRQuote.com is exactly what the name says – a free PR quote for any business or industry, regardless of size.

The founder and owner of MACIAS PR Mark Macias says he created the virtual tool as a way to help business owners who are asking him “How much does PR cost?”

“How much does the typical PR campaign cost is a relevant question in business,” said Macias. “The cost for PR is similar to other service sector industries, like accounting and law. The cost depends on how many hours are needed to execute the campaign; how complicated is the work; what specific needs do you have; how unique is your product. FreePRQuote.com provides a free PR estimate based on how the business responds to these questions.”

Continue reading “How Much Does PR Cost? MACIAS PR Unveils Free Tool That Reveals Cost” →

Business hacks for business owners – PR and Marketing tips

Posted on by Mark Macias

As an entrepreneur, you have to learn quickly what are your weaknesses and strengths. Sure, when you’re starting out, you have to do everything from billing to bookkeeping to the actual work. But as you scale, the workload needs to be delegated. You need some business hacks.

I speak with startups all the time who tell me they tried to get PR on their own. They tell me they listened to Mark Cuban who said it is easy to get PR and spent hours, days and even months trying to get a story on the news.

That money and time could have been better spent on growing their own business.

I don’t know accounting or bookkeeping, but my business needs that function. I could (and I have tried) to learn Quickbooks and even do my own taxes, but that wouldn’t be an efficient place to spend my time.

My expertise is the media. My business is PR. I’m better served by spending my time on what I know.

Continue reading “Business hacks for business owners – PR and Marketing tips” →

Best PR Campaigns begin with a Focused Approach

Posted on by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias

I got an email recently from a marketing consultant who I have worked with in the past. She’s introduced me to many great “players” in the business scene and she is a friend, so I want her to succeed.

She asked if I would help her with publicity for an upcoming project. Her idea was to push press releases to her audience.

I asked who was her targeted audience and she ran off a list that pretty much included everyone.

It’s great to have a product that is for the masses, but when it comes to the media, your campaign will be more successful if you narrow down the target. The more targeted a media campaign, the better ROI it will bring to your business.

Continue reading “Best PR Campaigns begin with a Focused Approach” →

The Best PR Firms leverage Vision, Creativity and Clarity

Posted on by Mark Macias

The most creative people are typically seen as eccentric or even chaotic with their approach to life. It’s great to approach life with that creative flair, but when it comes to successful PR campaigns, clarity is equally important.

The foundation for all creative work revolves around clarity. I’ve seen it in the media as an Executive Producer with NBC. I’ve observed it with actors as a playwright producing an Off-Broadway play. I’ve also seen at work how clarity is crucial for every PR campaign.

The best PR firms are clear, creative and focused

Clarity is a requirement when it comes to the foundation of our media campaigns. I always say in our office, “reporters might not like our story idea, but they will always know what our story is.”

During my time in the media, I used to get all kinds of pitches from publicists. Most of the time, I never knew what story they were pitching.

Their stories didn’t have focus or vision. The message wasn’t tight. I didn’t understand what the publicist was pitching.

This approach to PR is one of the advantages that MACIAS PR has over our peers. We will will never push a story angle that isn’t clear. We will also make sure that our angle is understand – from an editorial perspective.

If you’re having trouble getting traction with the media, email us and we’ll schedule a strategy session that will bring clarity to your media message.

Finance Monthly and ACQ5 5 – an international industry award – named Macias PR the 2017 Strategic PR Firm of the Year, and PR Firm of the Year – USA. This was the third year in a row that Finance Monthly recognized our firm. The founder – Mark Macias – is a former Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS in New York. He is also a PR contributor with CNBC, providing media analysis, insight and crisis advice on timely business topics.