You might have heard it from your mother: Would it hurt you to pick up the phone once in a while? More than an admonishment, it's good advice for PR professionals. We get so wrapped up in e-mail that we forget the benefits of the simple phone call:

It's personal, and allows for a closer relationship.
It's interactive, enabling instant response to questions.
It allows for nuance, which is often difficult in e-mails.
It's often the best way to reach e-mail-deluged reporters, editors, clients or techies.

The one time not to use the phone is when editors or reporters indicate in media directories that they do not want calls. This preference should be respected as much as your mother's need to get a phone call from you every once in a while.

Past Tips:
Out-of-body experience

Cramblitt & Company provides us with customer stories that are usable with virtually no editing. Most press releases we receive are so hyped that after editing there is almost nothing left.

Joe Tracy
Publisher,
Digital Media FX