WHEN Thursday, Sept. 28, 6:45-9:45 p.m.   WHO For publicists who want to be more effective pitching. WHERE offices of mediabistro.com West Hollywood, Calif. MORE INFO Email us, or call (310) 659-5668.  PRICE $65 ($50 for ) more info

Course Details

Public Relations is a science and not an art. That's why it's easy to learn how to pitch and get effective press coverage for a person, a business, a product, or merely an idea! All the tactics you'll hear about are based on proven methods, not always pretty—but damn easy to implement!

So what is pitching? It isn't just picking up the phone and "telling" an editor what to write. It's a four-pronged process:

1. Creating an alluring hook or story idea that's worth writing researching and
2. Reading up to figure out who the story's best fit for
3. Making that passionate call that gets people interested
4. Making sure the editor that did find it interesting has the access and info he or she needs to get it down in writing.

In addition to this approach, you'll learn all about:

• Strategic placements
• Carefully constructed plans
• Reaching business objectives via mainstream and industry press
• The "new school" approach to comprehending PR, which the easiest (read least costly) way to gain market share!

This is all about the ability to utilize emerging cultural phenomena—and aligning yourself with news before it becomes big! These are message-inundated days. You can rise above that.

Instructor Bio

Richard Laermer's Courses

A frequently-quoted authority on media culture and hype, Richard Laermer is a former magazine and newspaper journalist, co-host of TLC's Taking Care of Business, and the author of the just-released HarperCollins book Punk Marketing: Get off your ass and join the revolution (www.PunkMarketing.com). He is co-runner of BadPitchBlog, the PR world watchdog (www.badpitch.blogspot.com). Richard has been published in The New York Times, New York Daily News, Reuters, USA Today, People, Saturday Review, US Weekly, Interview, New York Post, Crains NY, Rolling Stone, SoHo Weekly News, and Editor & Publisher.

Richard founded RLM Public Relations in 1991. He is author of the award-winning Full Frontal PR: Getting People Talking About You, Your Business, or Your Product (Bloomberg), trendSpotting (Penguin), Native's Guide to New York guidebook series (Norton), Bargain Hunting in Greater New York (Prima), and Get on with It (Broadway).