you don't need a pr firm to get your work published
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I got an email this week from a friend, asking if I could recommend
a good PR firm to promote the architecture side of his design/build company. He
said he would like to see his projects in high-profile publications like the
New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, so he was looking for a PR outfit
that had connections to that world.
I passed along some names, but after further consideration it
dawned on me how few of the press releases I get make any impression on me
whatsoever. When I open an email from an architect's PR agency, I'm looking for
one thing: a publishable project. Show me pictures of a great project, then we
can talk. It doesn't matter who sent the press release, who the architect is,
or who the client is. A page-long paean to the genius behind the
design is wasted on me. If I see good work, I'll follow up. Except in special
cases--say affordable housing, rescue housing, or some new technology--the
ideal press release would consist of nothing more than photographs and the
architect's web address.
I ended up calling my friend back and telling him I didn't
think he needed to hire anyone. Get the names of the editors who pick
the projects, I said, call
them up, and introduce yourself. Say you'd like to send shots of your
work, then
send them. Done. I would offer the same advice to any architect or
builder (along with the insistence that the work be shot by a competent
architectural photographer). I
need good projects to write about; I'm hunting for them all the time. If
you
send me shots of your work, you can bet I'll look at them. I don't need a
PR
firm's letterhead to know what I like, and when I see something I like,
I'll try
my best to get it published. --b.d.s.
