Welcome to Whisker Media’s new blog, the Whisker Report! Whisker Media is a pet public relations firm whose mission is to help animals across the globe. We do that by offering public relations services, but we know many for profit pet businesses, animal shelters and rescues don’t have the budget to hire an agency.

What is the Whisker Report?

We’re starting this blog as a way to give everyone in the pet industry some tips and tricks for getting some public relations buzz. Whisker Media cares deeply about animal welfare and the pet product industry. We want to see homeless animals in permanent homes and the pet product industry supporting those adoptions by innovating new products to make owning a pet easier. Animals are what we care about and it’s the only thing we do.

At least twice a month, the Whisker Media team will provide you with some tips to getting publicity for your brand or rescue, no matter where you are located. We hope to give you insight on how to do PR efficiently, especially when you have no money or staff to help you. We are firm believers that a business or nonprofit can be “tiny but mighty,” as neonatal kitten rescuer Hannah Shah, “The Kitten Lady” says.

What is Public Relations?

You may wonder, what exactly is public relations? Many people confuse public relations and marketing. Public relations is not marketing, but part of a marketing strategy. According to the Public Relations Society of America, public relations “is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics. At its core, public relations is about influencing, engaging and building a relationship with key stakeholders to contribute to the way an organization is perceived.”

I think a good public relations expert is someone who is willing to go out, meet people and form relationships to persuade others to think a certain way about a business, nonprofit, event or service. This is something that you as a business owner or animal rescuer can definitely do! Yes it’s time consuming, but the hard work always pays off by seeing a wonderful social media post, newspaper article or television hit on the local morning news.

How to be a good PR person?

I was a former broadcast journalist for 13 years in television markets all over the United States, and I always called the PR people that I had a relationship with first. If I knew and liked you, I would call you over and over again, because I trusted you. Often times I needed an interviewee within an hour or two, and I always knew the PR people that could get me someone quickly.

How did I initially find my trusted PR people? Being in local news, many of them initially invited me to lunch to get to know me better and find out what kind of stories I liked covering. Now, it’s me doing the opposite. I’m reaching out to journalists and influencers so I can learn what stories they like to cover so I can help them and get coverage for my clients. If you watch your local or national media outlets, often times you’ll see the same experts quoted or interviewed over and over again. That’s because they are the trusted experts of that reporter, writer, editor or producer.

Being a social butterfly is just one of many things you can do to get great PR, but there’s so much more! While I would love to work with everyone in the industry who reaches out to me, that’s just not possible. But my hope is that this blog will give you knowledge, hope and inspiration to get some great PR for yourself!