It's an easy task to believe that public relations are simply about making the a lot of the news you've or 'creating' news stories that'll appeal to the press and media. If you're able to respond quickly and provide helpful comments then breaking news is an excellent opportunity to enhance your profile. Below are a few handy tips to get you contemplating making the absolute most of breaking news.

Monitor the headlines - it's essential to keep an eye on the press and media for the stories that are being covered. It's unlikely that a week should go by without some sort of story appearing that you might contribute to. That means being on top of the news and stories as they seem and develop during the day. It's simple enough to start to see the stories that are likely to get coverage over a few days.

Act quickly - the main thing is to identify an account and then act on it. The quicker you are in contacting the relevant journalist with useful comments or material compared to more likely it will undoubtedly be that the efforts can pay off. The entire world of press and media moves quickly which means you should do the same. You'll also need to consider the deadlines that journalists will work to. The 24-hour news channels mean that there surely is now far more scope for providing expert comments on the back of a news story. News Articles They've air time to fill and will undoubtedly be grateful when you can help them do that. Also, don't forget that many of the stories that can be found in the Sunday newspapers are the week's stories in more detail with an additional comment - that gives you a good opportunity.

Help push on the story - ensure that what you contribute provides useful information, can look at the story from an alternative perspective, help to go the story on, etc. The audience really wants to be informed and your job is to help achieve that. It's no good approaching a journalist about a small business story by saying that you will be a small business coach - you need to be very specific, in relation to the story, about what you can contribute.

Make yourself available - if you wish to raise your profile on the back of someone else's news then you definitely need to place time aside to accomplish that. It may be disruptive because it's not planned. Before approaching any journalist be clear that you can contribute time to follow along with through. If you should be successful in your efforts, that could include visiting a business, doing interviews, etc., and that most does take time and effort. In advance of an interview, you may even want to seek the services of a media trainer to assist you prepare. This really is a good idea particularly if you haven't done much press and media work.

Build relationships - approaching journalists on the back of breaking news also provides you with a good opportunity to build relationships with journalists covering your interest area. Find out the kind of stories they are enthusiastic about and whether you are able to help them with other accounts. Also, if you do a good job then it provides you with scope for keeping them to place you in their 'little black book' of contacts for future stories - that's what you should achieve.

Become a specialist - there are two methods to generate opportunities for comment and interviews on the back of news stories. One way is to contact journalists. The other is in order for them to contact you. In an ideal world, you should probably do both. There are databases such as for example Expert Sources where you can list your details for a paid-for subscription. Journalists use it to find experts to supply comments for the stories they are working on.

Commenting on the back of other people's news is a great way to build your profile and get contact with key audiences. It can also be a significant way to build your profile while keeping your costs down. If you're able to build a reputation for providing useful and insightful comments then you definitely will quickly discover that journalists will come back to you time and again.