CONVERSATIONS: Alison Blackman Dunham of The Advice Sisters website values relationships

Alison Blackman Dunham, of advicesisters.net, joined us to share her thoughts on the six questions we’re posing to our virtual round-table participants. We enjoyed our conversation and are confident our readers will appreciate her thoughts. Jump the fold to find out what she told us…

Alison “definitely likes to get all releases by email.” Like several of our other interviewees, she doesn’t have a fax. She does, however, have a Blackberry and opens many emails on it (which is why a PDA friendly link at the top of your releases is a good idea, by the way!). But the key to getting her to open your email is a very clear and concise subject line, simply stating what is newsworthy about your story. Emails with attachments, on the other hand, make her nervous about viruses and are likely to earn you a quick delete.

Asked how she feels about getting email from people she doesn’t know, Alison had a very common-sense response: “If I didn’t get releases from people I didn’t know, I wouldn’t make new contacts and learn about new things.” (How’s that for clear and concise?!)

She finds video with code or links to be handy when she is interested in a release. But the key for her is organization–she doesn’t want to spend a lot of time following a maze of links to get to pertinent info so make sure your releases are well organized, clearly labeled, and allows for easy access to key material.

Asked for a few do’s and don’ts, Alison echoed a point we’ve heard before–know who she is and what she writes about before you send her info. (Please, don’t call her “mister” and be aware that covers beauty, fashion and lifestyle). She also advises PR professionals to be clear, keep it short, and use proper English. As she rightly notes, “I expect people to approach me in a professional, respectful, well-formed way… Just because we’re on the Internet doesn’t mean we should write in code!”

Her pet peeve is being expected to post what amounts to blatant advertorials. On the other hand, she is happy to learn about new products and even try them out so she can share her thoughts with her readers.

Alison is trying out a variety of social media platforms, although she is not exactly sold on them all. At the moment, she’s familiarizing herself with the options. She told us that she sometimes feels like she’s being inundated with info and even yelled at from her own computer, saying that the variety of sites she is trying to keep up with right now is “time consuming and anxiety provoking.” While she hoped to make real contacts, so far she feels like she’s being pitched and, in one bad Facebook experience with a “friend” who posted his upcoming sale on her wall, even exploited. However, she plans to eventually settle on the few platforms that work best for her and, hopefully, will make some positive connections once she settles in.

 Alison summed up her thoughts on the state of the media today and the shift to digital by emphasizing the importance of relationships, connections and one-on-one interactions: “We’re still human and our need to connect hasn’t changed in millennia… In the end, you still need to make these one-on-one connections… If you don’t know me, you can reach out… without your leads I don’t have that much to write out. And without me, you don’t have anyone to promote your (brands).”

Great point Alison. We enjoyed hearing what she had so say and are certain you will too!

TagsJournalists, New Media Release, news release, News Release preferences, Public Relations, Release It