Results.

The bottom line of any Public Relations Campaign.

 A beautifully-written news release or feature article isn’t worth much if an editor throws it in the trash can. Neither is a fabulous-looking newsletter worth anything if its target market barely glances at it. Nor is this copy worth anything if it doesn’t convince you that I am a PR writer who can create results for you.

As a publicist, I have been very successful developing media strategies and working with appropriate media to place stories for my clients. Over 100 of my feature and news articles have been published in trade and consumer publications, including Drilling Contractor, Parents, Texas Monthly, Petroleum Engineer, Navy Times, Model Retailer, Runners’ World, Texas Realtor, Austin Business Journal, Austin American-Statesman, and Houston Business Journal.

Why have I been so successful?

Do I have great contacts? No. I can honestly say that I have rarely gone into a project with established contacts. One reason I’ve been successful in media relations is because I’ve worked on the “other side” of the PR desk.  I have served as assistant editor/staff writer for two community newspapers and managing editor/staff writer for a quarterly, regional magazine. I know what editors are looking for, because I’ve been one, and I know the difference between news and hype. I know how to find the “news hook”.   I never approach the media with anything less than a well-thought-out story idea and/or a well-written article or pitch letter.

I spent over a decade as a PR specialist, coordinating and writing award-winning campaigns for a wide range of clients: a law firm, doctors, and other professionals, a nationally-recognized metal working company, a private school, a private school administrator, a dance troupe, real estate agents, restaurants, non-profit agencies, and more. I’ve worked with established companies and start-ups, from individual professionals to large businesses.

I have also written and designed client publications, direct mail pieces, advertisements, and brochures.

I’ve been fortunate to work with a wide range of clients. I am a quick learner, filled with curiosity, and I’ve had no trouble shifting gears from one client industry to another.

For another decade, I have used my marketing skills to develop and promote my own companies: Deb Evans Photography and Right Brain Classes.  During this time, I have learned how to expand my specialties of information marketing and relationship marketing online, exploring the many benefits of online media, including social networking, blogs, and website SEO copywriting.

My experience has been varied and successful. My services are personal and professional. I can work with you to develop ideas and story angles, or I can write from your plan and materials.

 debevansphotography@yahoo.com

Sample PR Campaigns
Debbie Dalton Evans

Business to Business Public Relations – write and publish articles in trade publications

What: Boring Specialties, Inc., a Houston-based machine shop, specializing in trepanning, a method of boring a hole in a solid bar and removing a solid core.

PR Objective: Increase awareness of trepanning and Boring Specialties to increase customer base

Strategy: Coordinate with editors of national and international trade publications to publish informative feature articles on trepanning, using boring Specialties and its customers as sources Articles were written from an apparently objective 3^rd party

Results: Feature articles written by Debbie Dalton Evans were published in over a dozen trade publications in a two-year period, generating hundreds of reader responses; one article received an award from the magazine for being one of the top ten articles generating the most reader responses of the year.

Event Media Relations – write and publish localized feature articles in consumer publications

What: Astrorail, a model train show sponsored by the National Model Railroad Association (MNRA); nearly 50,000 square feet of operating model railroad layouts and 125 exhibitors

PR Objective: Through media coverage, create event awareness and increase attendance

Strategy: Through a comprehensive media package and personal contact, encourage local media (including suburban newspapers) to print calendar information, write feature articles on individual modelers and to give day-of broadcase coverage.

Results: Attendance of 24,000 people surpassed all records in NMRA;s 54-year history of train shows; 672.25 column inches of coverage including 426.75 column inches of feature articles, 4 hours and 10 minutes of radio time and 1 hour and 4 minutes of t.v. time. Campaign recognitions included case study in PR News, feature in Houston Business Journal’s “Advertising Beat”, PRSA Excalibur Award and Mercury Award from National Media Conference.

Business to Consumer Public Relations – write and place informational articles showing client as expert

What: Caravaca Academy, a private school in Houston’s Museum District for pre-kindergarten through sixth grade

PR Objective: In a three-month campaign, increase awareness of school in community

Strategy: A comprehensive campaign of news releases and media contact to create media coverage of school and its activities

Results: A feature in the Houston Post food section on recipes children can make themselves, a feature article in Houston Woman magazine on education toys (both using school’s director as primary source), coverage of school’s Halloween party by three local t.v. news programs.

Business to Consumer Public Relations and Client Relations

What: Hancock & Piedfort, P.C., Attorneys at Law, a law firm with specialties in real estate law and bankruptcy law.

PR Objective: Increase awareness of the firm throughout Texas, establishing it as expert in the areas of real estate and bankruptcy law; develop and increase positive communications between the firm and its clients.

Strategy: Ghost-wrote a variety of informational articles for the lead attorneys and placed these articles in publications reaching the target market. Designed and wrote copy for quarterly client newsletter.

Results: Multiple articles published with the attorneys’ by-lines, including Austin Business Journal, Texas Realtor, and other appropriate trade publications.

 Other Miscellaneous Campaigns:

·         Media Relations – wrote news releases leading to feature articles and ghost-wrote articles appearing in:

·         Houston Business Journal, Austin Business Journal, Houston Chronicle, and Austin American-Statesman

·         Runners’ World, Texas Running Magazine

·         Drilling Contractor, Petroleum Engineer

·         Community newspapers throughout the Greater Houston area

·         Texas Realtor, Realtor Today magazines

·         Navy Times

Editorial Experience

·         Assistant Editor / Staff Writer  – Village News community newspapers, Houston. Wrote all feature stories and edited news releases for publication in two weekly newspapers.

·         Managing Editor / Lead Writer – Houston Remodeling & Design Magazine – Wrote feature stories for monthly publication and worked on other aspects of design and publishing.

·         Freelance writer for several years with articles published in a variety of publications including Parents Magazine.

 Click here to view Deb's Writing Samples

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