Just recently I was having a conversation with a colleague who claimed that even in our traditional press silly season it was getting more difficult to 1. get good stories out of clients and then 2. get those stories published in their clients target press media.

Perhaps it is just me, but that view couldn't be much further from our truth if it tried! Our clients are continuing to give us good stories and we are continuing to be able to place them and are experiencing high hit rates with all released articles. We're even finding that some press journalists are approaching us more frequently as they find that, in some sectors, their usual sources are keeping their heads down due to the adverse effects of the credit crunch.

Maybe it's unpopular to state and follow the obvious when it comes to creating an effective press public relations campaign? Oh well, I always have been out of step with the times so here we go!

1.Make sure your press lists are targeted and in line with the campaign your client has asked you to run for them.

2.Ensue that you give each journalist what they are looking for, when they are looking for it and in a format that they want and can use.

3.Get buy-in from your client in terms of agreement on levels of activity, focus and story content ... then get your client to give you the stories and the information to back them up.

4.If needs be work with your client so that they understand what a good story looks like and sounds like and what information you're likely to need in order to jump on it quickly.

5.Publish quickly and follow each journalist up to further develop relationships and check that they are definitely getting what they want.

What could be simpler?

Perhaps what's needed is more of a focus on story than message. A story should excite and move the reader; a message could come from anyone in the same or similar industries lips (and sadly we're not all as different as we would like to believe).