Several months ago, I took over the reins of HealthExec, serving as Editor and primary writer for the brand, which provides news and analysis to healthcare business professionals. I also continue to contribute occasionally to other Innovate Healthcare publications, including Health Imaging, Radiology Business, and Cardiovascular Business.
Check out the link below to see my work.
I've been writing for Innovate Healthcare since August 2023, serving as Editor of Health Imaging and as a contributing writer for other brands (HealthExec and Radiology Business).
Check out the link below to see my work.
Several years ago I worked as a writer, editor, and photographer (also a social media manager) at a marketing company that produced custom publications for various businesses. Below are some examples. If you scour this blog, you'll find several others.
There are dozens of these magazines in the wild, each released in print with a digital backup. These were handed out by service technicians, sales reps, and displayed in lobbies. I have never seen these particular issues, but I recognize my work in them.
They're fun. Check them out:
What does a media relations manager do?
When asked what I do for a living I typically reply with “public relations,” and if people don’t know what that means, to simplify the conversation I’ll say “marketing.” Both are true. But as anyone who works in this space will understand, the full truth of it is “media relations.”
Basically, my role acts as a liaison between my clients and the media, facilitating interviews, writing pitches, and ultimately managing relationships with editors and outlets. There are a lot of moving parts.
What’s the typical day of a media relations professional like? Let me break it down:
Winning an award is a big deal, especially in the health tech and life sciences space. The exposure not only earns a company, thought leader, or product media attention, but the prestige of an award also carries bragging rights that open doors for new partnerships and customers across the healthcare ecosystem. As with anything coveted in this world, winning an award is hard work and not everyone gets to leave with a trophy. However, a great application will maximize the chances of winning.
Nearly every healthcare award requires a written application – a chance to inform the judges on who you are, what you do, and why you deserve to win. If you want an award application to stand out from all of the others in the stack, it’s best to identify these all-too-common errors and remedy them before you hit submit.
A media briefing or interview is an important chance to reach a wider audience. Furthermore, it’s a chance to exercise your communication skills, enhance your message, and go beyond the press release. Every interview is a chance to have a conversation with another knowledgeable person and develop your resume as a notable thought leader.
Over my time as a newspaper correspondent, magazine editor, and media relations professional, I have conducted and sat in on hundreds of media briefings and interviews. And, honestly, most of them go fine. The ones that don’t go well (where it isn’t the media member’s fault – which it sometimes is!) usually are a result of a spokesperson tripping into three common pitfalls:
In public relations, there’s a lot of talk about a company’s brand and its messaging – the ideas and public imagine the institution and its representatives. The value cannot be overstated.
Messaging and branding give a company its identity, making it appear
“human” in the eyes of people. It gives anyone interacting with a
company or organization an identity they can latch onto and work with.
A
loyalty to your messaging and branding as a company is important.
However, things are changing. If you’re an individual, even a CEO, the
rules are not quite the same.
The phrase “thought leader” is one that is thrown around a lot in public relations. And it’s understandable: For any public facing organization or business, it’s important to have experts on hand who can speak to the public.
However, as someone involved in day-to-day media relations operations at an award-winning PR and marketing agency, I have a major gripe with thought leaders, and I wrote this blog specifically for them and their coaches.
In short, my gripe is this: You need to be able to talk about something else other than your products and services. You must be able to speak about something other than your business and your brand.
If you can’t do it, you’re not a thought leader, you’re a spokesman. And there is a difference.
